The Danger of Safety
by bandidaciega
Summary: When Tedros Pendragon starts his junior year of high school, he realizes he has always played it too safe. Him and his friend make a pact to do at least one act to leave their comfort zone. But they realize it proves harder than expected, and they start wondering if some risks are really worth it. Especially when certain feelings start blooming. A modern SGE AU with a little twist.
1. Outset

**Hello!**

 **I took a little hiatus for the past moths, mostly due to schoolwork and lack of inspiration. SO while I was gone, I revamped my Reversed AU fic; I came up with a conflict, rewrote the first chapters, and even made a cover!**

 **So, I hope you enjoy this, and leave a review!**

* * *

The sun shone dimly over the homely town of Gavaldon, even at the early hour of six in the morning, anyone would be able to tell it was going to be a bright, sunny day.

It would be the perfect day to hit the local pool with your friends. But at the same time, it wasn't. For today marked the beginning of the school year at Samuel Grant Edwards High School, and that meant the end of summer, much to the disgrace of about two thousand students.

But one of them didn't mind. As he neatly combs his hair, adjusts his button up shirt, and fixes his glasses, Tedros decides he is ready for the first day of junior year.

The first day of being an upperclassmen means a lot to him. But dread isn't one of them. Unlike many students, Tedros _likes_ school. That doesn't mean he likes the stress and lack of sleep that comes along with high school, but he does like learning.

Of course, this thoughts are never voiced, for that would mean a lot of mocking from his peers, maybe even his friends.

As Tedros goes down the stairs, with his messenger back strapped across his shoulder, he can smell the coffee coming from his kitchen.

His dad, Arthur, sits at the dining table, calmly sipping his coffee while looking at his phone. A lot of people say Tedros looks like a younger version of his dad. He agrees with them, but the only difference between them are Tedros' glasses.

"Morning, son." Arthur says, looking up.

"Morning, dad." Tedros replied, sipping coffee onto a cup. He rarely has breakfast, since he never wakes up hungry. He goes through the fridge, and sighs.

"Did we run out of creamer?" Tedros asked. Arthur lets out a small 'oh'.

"Yeah, I forgot to get some last night after work. Sorry about that." Arthur apologized. Tedros drank the bitter liquid from his cup, a decision he quickly regretted.

"Alright, are we ready for the first day of junior year?" Arthur asked. Tedros gave a small smile.

"As ready as I can be." The two headed out of their home. There is only one car at their house, so Tedros drives to school, and then Arthur uses the same car to go to work. It has worked out for them in the past months.

"Junior year was my favorite year of high school, you know? It was very fun, even though it was stressful, but I have the best memories from that year. I can only hope you can say the same." Arthur told.

"I sure hope so. I have a lot on my plate this year: PSAT, SAT, the need to start thinking about colleges, 2 AP classes…it's a lot of work, but I'm sure I'll make some good memories." Tedros replied, keeping his eyes glued to the road. Gavaldon's narrow roads made driving a little harder than it should.

"And there's also Prom. That was a big deal for my friends and I when we were your age." Arthur said. Tedros tensed up at the mention of the dance.

"Yeah…that should be fun." Tedros replied lamely. Prom meant dates. It meant asking a girl. That was too much anxiety for 6:58 in the morning.

"You don't sound too excited about it." Arthur teased. Tedros sighed.

"It's just…you know social events are not my forte." Tedros explained.

"But, you seem to have conquered Homecoming these past years, what's so scary about Prom?

 _Hmm, I don't know, trying to ask your crush after years of liking her and facing rejection? I don't know, maybe that's just me._ Tedros thought sarcastically, but remained quiet.

"The date part…I've never asked anyone to…any dance." Tedros said. Arthur chuckled.

"You will be fine. Look, you must be wondering why I'm talking about Prom, but the thing is, I would like for you to…be involved in these type of school events. I'm extremely proud of your academic achievements, but I do think it wouldn't hurt you to…loosen up sometimes." Tedros drove to a red stop light and faced Arthur.

"But I do loosen up! I see my friends over the weekend all the time." Tedros defended himself.

"I know you do, and I'm glad. But, you know, you can go to more school events that involve socializing. By the time you'll be my age, you'll remember those fondly." Arthur advised. Tedros sighed.

"I see your point, and I will _at least_ go to Prom." Tedros said, "Even if it means facing my fears…"

"See, that's the attitude! You only have this year and next year as a teen. Afterwards, it's the real world. Enjoy this!" Arthur said, as Tedros pulled up to the driveway of his school. They both gout of the car, while Tedros waved goodbye as he walked away, Arthur waved at him from the driver's seat.

Tedros decided to not think too much about his father's words, and instead, saw as a group of sophomore girls hugged by the stairs, while the senior jocks patted each other on the back excitedly.

He just needed to find his little niche.

But his niche found him first.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" A voice called to him. Tedros turned around and smiled.

Beatrix Jolie quickly made her way to where he was and swiftly hugged him, almost knocking him to the ground. Not only she was strong, but she was pretty tall.

"Bea, easy on the strength." Tedros chuckled.

"Sorry, I'm just excited! After a whole year of crappy classes by myself, I finally have some classes with the people I like. That's a reason to be excited. I barely managed to finish _Jane Eyre_ in time! It was a good book though, at least AP Language has some good novels to offer." Beatrix excitedly chattered.

"Eh, Gothic novels were never my thing. I don't know how you're taking that class. It sounds like suicide." Tedros commented. Beatrix started at him.

"You're taking AP Chemistry, and you're talking about suicide? That's what we call hypocrisy." Beatrix retorted. As the two stood by the lockers in the white and blue hallways, Beatrix's and Tedros' phones went off.

 _Meet me by the parking lot_.

"Do we need to though?" Tedros joked. Beatrix smiled.

"Aw come on! I want to see what's this about." Beatrix took Tedros' arms and dragged him to the parking lot.

The parking lot was at the back of the main building. It was full of rich juniors and seniors, many who were talking about their vacation to Europe, or their brand new car.

But Tedros and Beatrix couldn't really criticize them, because their own friend was like that.

"Where are we su— oh there he is!" Tedros pointed at a silver Lexus parked by a tree.

They walked over there, and found themselves with a tall, lean boy with light colored hair. They just stared at the boy's car.

"Did you…?" Tedros asked.

"Yep." Their friend happened to be Rafal Blackburn. Class President for two years on a row, and overachiever. Oh, and also, the designated rich friend.

"I didn't even ask for it. I call it 'making up for absences with money'." Rafal said sarcastically.

"Dang, rich people…" Beatrix dumbly said. Rafal laughed.

"Anyway...I can't believe it's already the first day of school. I'm not ready to start my days with Lesso's Pre-Calculus class. They really screwed me over this time." Rafal complained.

"Ha! You see, that's what happens when you're a nerd." Their friend, Hort, suddenly said, draping his arms around Rafal and Beatrix. The former rolled his eyes.

"It's okay, we're very proud of you taking three Honors courses." Beatrix giggled. Hort wasn't known for spectacular grades. He tried, really, but academics weren't really his thing. He somehow managed to get into higher level courses this year. This surprised everyone, including himself.

"Hey, you know it's a big achievement for me. Are those new glasses?" Hort asked Beatrix. She fixed her lilac, cat-eye frames and nodded.

"You are very lucky; you don't need to wear glasses." Rafal said. They all nodded in agreement.

"I'm ready to kick ass this year. I'm actually going to be a 'well-rounded student'" Hort said. He was the only of his friends involved in sports: he does track every year, and he is also the social butterfly of the group.

"I'm still confused as to why you hang out with us." Tedros joked.

"Well, I elevate your social ranking. I could also help you get a girl, or guy in Bea's case." Hort teased.

"Right…"Beatrix narrowed his eyes. Hort cracked up.

While they all merrily laughed and talked about their summer adventures, the roar of a motorcycle called their attention.

"Uh oh. There's only someone that rides a motorcycle to school." Hort observed.

As a matter of fact, the rider of the motorcycle parked in front of them. The figure took off the helmet they were wearing, revealing long blonde hair and a pair of angry, emerald green eyes.

If there was a rule at school, it was to not mess with Sophie Jones.

"You're in my spot." She gruffly demanded. Rafal raised his eyebrows, looked down at the pavement, and retorted:

"I don't see your name on it." This only made the blonde angrier.

"You know what I mean."

"Well, it seems you don't understand how parking works." Rafal calmly replied, holding her tantalizing gaze. Her gaze held feelings of pure hatred, but Rafal's eyes were unreadable.

She angrily veered and left them staring, either in confusion or anger.

" _What_ is her deal?" Rafal loudly complained. Out of the four, Rafal hated Sophie the most. It was mostly attributed to her…disruptive nature, which contrasted to his straitlaced nature.

"Who knows? She is a living she-demon in my opinion." Hort shrugged.

"As much as I would love to discuss Sophie Jones' attitude, we need to head to class. We only have four minutes before the bell rings." Beatrix announced.

"Crap! I have class in the second floor. I need to run!" Hort sprinted, not wanting to be late on the first day of class.

They laughed, but hurriedly walked to class.

Suddenly, Arthur's words resonated in Tedros' head.

Maybe he was right. Maybe he should try and make some memories.


	2. Pact

_Hello! I am back with an update! I want to thank you for the feedback given, and I'm glad you liked it. Here are some more shenanigans from your favorite gang of nerds._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

Thankfully, the weekend was soon upon everyone. Even though school had only started three days ago, the teachers assigned tons of homework, almost all of it due Monday.

At the moment, Tedros sat on his desk, struggling through the 30 page reading for AP US History. He had never been a fan of American history, but these pages made focusing nearly impossible. Sader had really outdone herself this time.

 _This has to be the worst thing I've ever read…_

He leaned against his chair, taking off his glasses in the process. It was a beautiful day out; there were barely any clouds in sight, and the sun shone brightly. The usual calm was upon his neighborhood.

As he readied himself to go back to read, his phone buzzed. He quickly took it and checked it.

 _Would anyone be willing to hit the new milkshake place downtown?_

Tedros smiled to himself. God bless Hort for always having an excuse to see everyone. Tedros typed a reply.

 _When?_

 _Today in the afternoon?_

 _I'm down._

Beatrix replied. If anyone texted Tedros, it usually came from their little group chat with all four of them.

 _What time exactly?_

Rafal texted. Tedros waited for a response from Hort.

 _Would 4 work?_

They eventually agreed to meet there at four. Hort said he'd find the address and text it to them.

Tedros made his way out of his bedroom and headed downstairs. He found his dad in the kitchen, trying to make lunch. Tedros decided to ignore the smoke coming from the pan, hoping it wasn't something too bad. Arthur still had some mishaps in the kitchen from time to time.

"Dad, is it okay if I go out today at four?" Tedros asked. Arthur turned around and faced him.

"Sure, where are you going?"

"Hort asked if we could meet at some milkshake place at downtown. He'll send the address later." Tedros replied.

"Sounds good, just don't come home too late. Oh, you can take the car; I don't think I'll be going out today, just drive safely." Arthur requested. Tedros grinned.

"I always do."

"Always a good thing to say…" Arthur mumbled to himself.

By 4:05, Tedros was making his way into the little place. The door had a little chime that announced any customer entering. It looked like the typical 50's diner: black and white tiled floors, a bar with bright red seats, even the waitresses were dressed up like women from the 1950's. It had a certain charm to it.

Tedros saw Hort signaling him from a booth. Beatrix was sitting opposite of him, but she turned around and waved at Tedros. He walked over them and sat next to Hort.

"Hey, glad you made it." Hort said, grinning.

"Yeah, how did you find this place?" Tedros inquired curiously. Gavaldon's downtown was full of little restaurants like this one, but Hort rarely came to this part of town.

"Oh, you know Hester Ravenswood? She was talking about getting a job somewhere, and Anadil Bakshi proposed this place. Hester didn't sound too excited about the prospect of working here…" Hort told.

"Well, she does seem pretty…um, pretentious, for lack of a better word." Beatrix said. Hester was the Capitan of the Varsity Cheerleading squad. She had a reputation of not really doing any dirty jobs.

The chimes ringed pleasantly, revealing Rafal crossing the door. He immediately saw his friends sitting at the corner and went there.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. My dad just came back from Europe and I actually needed to tell him where I was going. He also wanted to talk to me and stuff." Rafal explained, while rolling his eyes.

"Well, at least he's here again." Beatrix expressed positively.

"Yeah, although I'm getting used to being on my own…" Rafal said. His dad was pretty high up the ladder in his company, and he frequently traveled out of the country, leaving Rafal on his own. It was a strange arrangement for a seventeen year old, but Rafal was used to it. He thought the amount independence was good for him

"Anyways, do you know if this place is any good?" Beatrix asked Hort. He shrugged.

"If not, we can blame Hester and Anadil." Hort suggested. Rafal raised his eyebrows.

"Why would we do that?" Rafal questioned, confusion showing on his features.

"We'll fill you in later." Beatrix dismissed. Rafal shrugged.

A waitress promptly showed up to their table. She had copper-colored skin adorned with colorful makeup, while her dark black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she had a little notepad on her hands. The foursome eyed her for a second.

"Hester? You work here?" Hort asked in disbelief. She rolled her eyes.

"What do you think?" She answered sarcastically, "Do you guys know what you want?" They all looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Alrighty then, I'll be back in a couple of minutes." She swiftly left them alone.

"I thought she wouldn't take the job…" Hort muttered, looking at the menu.

"I hope she didn't hear me say she was pretentious…" Beatrix said. Tedros shook his head.

"She probably didn't."

After looking at their menus, Hester came back and took their order, furiously scribbling on her notepad.

"I'll put those in quickly." She told, but before she could leave, Hort asked:

"So, what made you take this job?"

"I need money, duh. But they hired me half time three days a week, so that should be a schedule flexible enough for Cheer practice." She briefly explained. "Are you doing track this year?"

"Yeah, I always do." Hort smiled crookedly at her. Hester grinned back.

"That was a dumb question. It would be like asking me if I'm doing cheer. Well, gotta go put these in." Hester quickly left and headed towards the kitchen.

"How do you even know Hester?" Rafal asked him.

"Ravan. That's all you need to know." Rafal grinned. Ravan Maharaj was another of the popular kids. He used to be friends with Hort, nut somehow they stopped hanging out. He still invited Hort to some of his parties, though.

"Right, you ditch us sometimes to hang out with Ravan." Rafal teased. Hort rolled his eyes.

"I literally do it less than once a month. Chillax." Hort rolled his eyes, but Rafal sniggered.

"Tedros, are you with us?" Beatrix asked, suddenly changing the subject. Tedros snapped from his trance.

"Yeah, yeah." He said distractedly. His three friends shared a glance.

"Is it me, or have you been more distracted lately? Is something up?" Beatrix queried. Tedros sighed.

Ever since Wednesday, his dad's words about taking risks had stayed in his mind. He knew it was silly, but he couldn't feel like his dad had a valid point. He felt as if he should act on those words.

"It's something dumb." Tedros replied.

"If you're this spacey, it's clearly not dumb." Rafal insisted. Tedros sighed again.

"Alright, I'll tell you." He felt his friends hunching over to listen. "My dad simply gave me a little spill about how I should…technically do more stuff, I mean, socially. Maybe take more risks, and ever since Wednesday, his words have been stuck in my head."

His friends remained silent, unclear as to what to say next.

"I mean…it never hurts you to leave your comfort zone. But I don't know how to do that…" Beatrix broke the silence.

"'Don't you feel we should...I don't know, stop playing it safe?" Tedros asked them. They all stared at him.

"Regarding what?" Beatrix inquired.

"High school." Tedros said. Beatrix and Rafal shared an uneasy look. "My dad talked about me going to more social events, but the more I thought of it, I came to a conclusion: we might play it too safe. What if we dared to do something different?" Tedros asked, earning more fidgeting from them.

"Look, I'm sorry this is heavy, I really am. But maybe we should all do something…not so safe, maybe?" Tedros suggested.

"So like, all of us pledge to do something we've never done?" Hort questioned, his black eyes twinkling with curiosity.

"Maybe…I don't know, these are just thoughts I've had." Tedros explained.

"Oh, I know what you should do." Hort announced, smirking maliciously. Tedros sighed, knowing what was coming.

"You should ask Aga—' Hort started saying, but Tedros shushed him. Beatrix and Rafal held back a laugh.

"Don't say her name so loudly, especially when Hester is around." Tedros whispered. Hort sighed.

"You should ask Agatha Woods to Prom." Hort whispered. Rafal and Beatrix vehemently agreed.

" _Yes_. I swear, you've been in love with her for _way_ too long." Beatrix complained. "It's about time you do something about it."

"I know, I know. It's just…intimidating. I really do want to, though." Tedros confessed.

Agatha Woods. The girl he had been in love with for…a _really_ long time. Unfortunately, he was too much of a dork to even talk to her about their English class.

"Oh, I can put in good word about you with her! She said she's running for VP this year." Rafal offered.

"…alright, do it." Rafal grinned, while Hort clapped Tedros in the back.

"Oh, and what are you going to do that's out of your comfort zone?" Beatrix asked Rafal. He shrugged.

"I'll figure it out later. No problem." Beatrix narrowed her eyes, and smirked evilly.

"You should open up to the possibility of actually _liking_ someone." Beatrix suggested.

"No, I don't do crushes. Or any type of romantic feelings. I don't have time for that!" Rafal objected.

"I gotta agree with her. Come on dude! A lot of girls have a thing for you, stop being so narrow minded. It'll be lame if you don't go to Prom with a date when there's at least five girls willing to go with you." Hort chided. Rafal sighed.

"So what do I pledge? That I will ask out a girl to Prom? That I will go on a date with at least someone?" Rafal mocked. They nodded their heads.

"Both. Both are good. I mean, as long as you _actually like_ them." Tedros said.

"Fine, I just don't think I should be forced to like someone but whatever. Beatrix needs to do something big, too." Rafal warned. Beatrix rolled her eyes.

"I will, relax. I just don't know what." Beatrix confessed. The three boys thought for a second.

"Well, it's weird, because you have Reena and you guys hang out with Dot sometimes, so you already have more friends besides us." Rafal stated.

"How about not going to Homecoming or Prom with Hort?" Tedros suggested. Beatrix frowned.

Every year, Hort would ask her to Homecoming. He said it worked, since it eased the tension of asking someone he didn't know, while not disrupting their routine. Beatrix always accepted because 'no one would care to ask her' besides him. It raised many questions among people about the nature of their relationship.

"But I like doing that! We always have a good time!" Hort cried. Beatrix agreed vehemently.

"But this whole thing is about _leaving_ your comfort zone." Rafal reminded them mockingly. He obviously was still irritated at his end of the bargain.

"Wait a second, that's more on Hort's end; see, he's the one that asks _me_. So, technically, this is _his_ dare. Besides, if Tedros is going with someone, and Hort probably too, because he's like, popular, that just kinda leaves me like the dateless sore thumb." Beatrix argued.

"No, it leaves _both_ of us as the dateless sore thumbs. Is okay though, I can take you." Rafal offered.

"That sounds like a good plan, but technically I still need something." Beatrix objected.

"Yeah…true…why are all of our things related to dates? I actually had a good one for myself." Hort sighed in defeat.

"What was it?" Tedros asked.

"I want to start my own graphic novel!" Hort revealed.

"Oh, that's exciting! I mean, is pretty challenging and all, but, is it out of your comfort zone?" Beatrix asked. Hort wordlessly thought for a second.

"I mean, artistically speaking, yes. However…I guess I need something socially challenging, don't I?" Hort said.

"Just take what we said earlier." Rafal suggested. Hort sighed again.

"Fine. We will all probably regret this." Hort agreed.

"Look, I know is…sudden, to say the least, but, we might get something rewarding out of this experience." Tedros argued.

"Easy for you to say, you could possibly get the girl of your dreams to be your girlfriend." Rafal scoffed. Tedros rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't go that far. I don't even know if she'd like me enough to even talk to me."

"She would. Just ask her. Dude, sometimes, you just have to do it without giving it much thought to it." Hort said.

"I would listen to Hort, seeing as he is the only one out of us that actually has gone out on dates recently." Rafal commented.

"Yeah, and you should listen to me too. Some girls have the hots for you, really." Hort told Rafal. The latter fidgeted.

"I would need to see that to believe it…but alas, are we seriously doing this? Are we seriously going to try to be more…socially involved? Dang, I don't even have a word for it." Rafal expressed.

"Guys, I don't want you think you're forced to do this. I was just explaining how I actually see the logic in my dad's words. You don't need to do some pact or bet or whatever you want to call it just because of something I said." Tedros rambled. His three friends all shared a look.

"…You know what? I will do it. It might be good for Beatrix and I to not go to Homecoming together this year." Hort smiled.

"I don't really know what I'm doing, but hey, why not?" Beatrix grinned. They all looked at Rafal. He sighed, but smiled.

"I'll give dating a try. Only if I like someone, though."

"We get it. So Tedros, are you gonna do it?" Beatrix asked curiously. Tedros nodded.

"About time." Rafal muttered.

"Is this when we say 'we're going to make great memories' or 'this is going to be the best year ever!'?" Hort joked.

"No, people usually say that when they're at the beach. Or something. I don't know, we're not a teen movie from the 2000's." Tedros grinned.

"We're better than that." Beatrix assured. "We may not be the cool kids, but we're pretty unique."

They may disagree on many things, but they couldn't agree more with Beatrix.

* * *

 _So, their little conflicts have been established. The question remaining is, are they actually going to do it? Oh, and comment if you have some idea of what Beatrix's little challenge could be. I want to see if you have any ideas. Also, if you know of anyone that could be in being an editor/beta, please tell them. Or if you're interested yourself, please PM me! I'm looking for a beta to see if they can help me with some grammar issues I have (read: accidentally switching tenses)_

 _Please do review! A review keeps an author writing!_


	3. Upheaval

After that Sunday, everyone felt determined to fulfill their challenge. A new sense of determination was now running through their bloodstream. A sense of purpose that had been long dormant but had now awakened.

Unfortunately, most of them had a long-term challenge, except for Beatrix. She still was unsure of what could she do. She was determined to find something, though.

A couple of weeks went by, and as the schoolwork increased, a major event approached. Well, at least for Rafal.

Class elections.

It was like his major event of the year. He wasn't frazzled or anything like it. He was just filled with adrenaline. All of his focus shifted from distractions to making sure he won the presidency. It would be an understatement to say he was competitive. His friend knew this all too well.

On a breezy, early October morning, as they waited for class to start, Tedros and Beatrix were hanging out by her locker. She casually got her textbook for Physics, as she loudly complained about her schedule:

"I hate having Physics first period. My brain is still numbed from sleep!" Beatrix exclaimed, fixing her baby blue sweater as she looked at her reflection on her locker's little mirror.

"Better than having English, I can assure you that." Tedros replied. Beatrix sighed wistfully.

"Have you seen Rafal? He's usually here by now." Beatrix inquired, loudly shutting her locker. Tedros shook his head.

"He said he'd be bringing his stuff for campaign. Do you think he'll ask you to hand out candy again?" Tedros grinned.

"Probably. He should ask Hort. He knows more people, and it'd be good if he convinces the popular crowd. After all, a lot of people like imitating them." Beatrix reasoned. Tedros agreed and nodded his head.

"That sounds like a good idea. You should tell him. I bet he'd do it, after all, nobody wants this more than Rafal." Tedros said.

"Yeah, who else is running for president? I heard Aric is." Beatrix said.

"I heard Reena is." Tedros replied. "Isn't she also a friend of yours?"

"Yeah…but Rafal is a closer friend , so you know." Beatrix explained. Tedros nodded.

In that moment, Beatrix and Tedros heard a 'thud'. They suddenly turned their heads and saw Rafal standing behind them.

He had just dropped his campaign posters on the floor, along with a big, light green bag. Beatrix and Tedros curiously watched, while Rafal unzipped his bag and looked for something. Beatrix took her chances and lifted one of the posters from the floor. She laughed.

"'I don't always run, but when I do is for president'? Where did you even get this?" Beatrix and Tedros snickered. Rafal rolled his eyes, taking the poster.

"Hey, it's witty, and it has the right message. I think is appealing! I've seen and heard worse, trust me." Rafal argued, pulling out tape from his bag. "I'm going to go hang these. Beatrix, would you take that bag? Is full with candy." Beatrix picked it up from the floor but said:

"Can Hort give out some of it too? He does have some good contacts, you know." Rafal grinned.

"Great idea! When do you think you'll see him?" Rafal asked.

"I have second period with him. I can give it to him then." Beatrix proposed. Rafal nodded.

"Where are you hanging those?" Tedros asked, pointing to the posters.

"One by the cafeteria, one by the wall full with everyone else's posters, and I still have to decide for the other one." Rafal answered, heading for the cafeteria. Beatrix and Tedros watched him go.

"Is it me, or are these elections more intense this year?" Beatrix asked. Tedros shrugged.

"I wouldn't be too worried; Aric is pretty strict, and Reena doesn't know that many people. It's always good to try your hardest, though. Tedros said.

"True enough. I'm going to start heading to class, I'll see you in history." Beatrix waved him goodbye. Tedros decided it was time to go, and simply headed for English.

He wasn't looking forward to today's test on Great Expectations.

When the bell rang, announcing the end of fourth period, Tedros and Beatrix were more than relieved. Nobody likes a thirty-minute documentary about the Boston Tea Party. Especially right before their lunch period.

Tedros took his textbook and put in his bag. He waited for Beatrix to finish picking up her stuff. They both left the classroom, accompanied by other fifteen kids that shared their boredom. Beatrix sighed.

"That was the worst documentary I've ever watched." Tedros nodded vehemently.

"They seriously need to find more exciting narrators. I think even the narrator was bored with his own content." Tedros commented. Beatrix laughed.

"Are you getting lunch from the cafeteria?" Beatrix asked. Tedros nodded again.

"Yeah, I need to hurry before the line gets too long." He said.

"Same here." They both hurried their pace, making their way to the crowded cafeteria.

Everyone had twenty-minute lunch periods, but upperclassmen had their lunch period before underclassmen. Still, it was a lot of people in a line, and it wasn't the fastest pace for a lunch line. Luckily, for them, they had made it in time; the line wasn't too bad.

They got their lunch, after waiting for what felt like forever. Beatrix and Tedros went over to their usual table. It was always the same spot, so they could all find each other after fourth period.

"Is it me, or are the subs the only edible thing in this place?" Beatrix said, eyeing her taco's tortilla.

"Yeah…I think the food is getting worse…" Tedros said, also eyeing his lunch.

As they made their way to their table, they found an unusual guest sitting by Rafal's side:

She had shoulder-length black hair, pale skin, a pair of big, expressive eyes full of curiosity and she wore a white, long-sleeved shirt. She held her face in her hand, showing off perfectly manicured nails. Rafal seemed to be explaining her something, but Tedros wasn't quite sure what.

Tedros' heart skipped a beat.

What in Heaven's name was Agatha doing here? He didn't mind, of course, but this unexpected occurrence threw him off completely.

"Oh, I didn't know you'd be sitting here Agatha." Beatrix observed. Agatha looked up from her notebook.

"Oh! Yeah, Rafal said he'd help me do this Physics problem…but I don't think he gets it either." Agatha said, frowning at Rafal's confusion.

"Yeah…I have no clue what to do now. But, I know who can help you." Rafal said, Agatha's face lit up.

"Tedros is _really_ good at Physics, I bet he can help you." Tedros nearly choked when Rafal said that. Agatha looked at him hopefully.

"Can you? The quiz is tomorrow and I can barely do displacement problems." Agatha said. Tedros tried to process what she said.

"Yeah, sure." Tedros finally replied.

"Why don't you switch places with me? That way you can see the textbook from the same direction." Rafal suggested. They switched seats, and Tedros sat next to Agatha. His heart about to fall off his chest.

He read the problem and looked at the diagram.

"Alright, um, is simpler than what you think…The arrows are just indicating the direction he's going, so you'll just have to, um, add up these numbers," Tedros took her pencil and pointed at the numbers. She added them up. Even something as easy as physics was hard to explain when she was around.

"So is this the distance or the displacement?" Agatha asked him.

"That's the distance, because is the total. But the displacement is…120 meters, to the right."

"How is that possible?" Agatha asked. Tedros explained why, and she had more questions per each reply. Until finally, she understood.

"I mean, the diagram was just really confusing. I think I get it…I hope so."

"A-Are you sure?" Tedros asked her. She nodded.

"Thank you so much! I'm sorry I just kind of 'invaded' your table." Agatha said, standing up and getting her stuff.

"Hey Agatha, are you ready for the test on _1984_?" Beatrix asked. Agatha turned around.

"I think so; I read the book, and I read a bunch of summaries of plot and theme and all that stuff. Are you?"

"I think so, too. It was a good book." Agatha rolled her eyes at that comment.

"It was okay…anyways, I'll see you guys later. Thanks again!"

"No problem." Tedros replied quietly. Agatha waved goodbye at them, walking over to the table where he friends sat. Tedros faced Rafal.

"Dude, you can't just ambush me like that." Tedros said. Rafal sighed. He shared a look with Hort, who had just gotten there.

"I told you he wouldn't react positively." Hort scolded Rafal. He rolled his eyes.

"Hey, that's something. At least she now knows she can ask you about Physics and get the right answer. And she struggles a lot in that class. It's a small step, but one in the right direction." Rafal said, opening a bag of chips.

"Yeah…I mean I didn't, like, mind her here, but just give me a heads up." Tedros said.

"Alright, alright." Rafal conceded. "She did say she might get a tutor, since is hard for her. It wouldn't be a bad idea for you to sign up. After all, you are pretty smart, and it's an excuse to be with her. I could arrange some stuff if I win the presidency…" Rafal said cryptically. Hort smirked at Tedros.

"Hey, if your best friend is the class president, you take the chance." Hort advised, "Besides, do you have any classes with her?

"Only Spanish class." Tedros replied.

"I would take my chances with the tutoring if I was you." Beatrix chimed in, taking a bite of her taco. "Wow, this is gross." She pushed her basket aside and took a sip of her water.

"Yeah, you should do it. Tutoring is not bad, I do it every year." Rafal said.

"Do you ever, you know, use your presidency privileges to get a good person to tutor?" Hort asked. Rafal shook his head.

"I keep my integrity for my own purposes. However, I could do that." Rafal answered.

"What subjects do you help tutor?" Tedros asked.

"Mostly French, but I also do some math classes." Rafal said. "French is usually the wildcard, since there's a lot of people I don't like that take the class."

"Is Aric one of them?" Hort sniggered. Rafal looked down. He didn't get along with Aric's policies sometimes…well, that was an understatement.

"Having him as a Vice President was enough suffering… Oh, did you guys give out the candy I gave you? "Rafal asked Beatrix and Hort. Beatrix nodded, but Hort widened his eyes.

"No, just give me a second!" Hort stood and headed for Agatha's table, where she sat with the cheerleading squad and some jocks. Rafal and the rest observed from afar. They all took the candy, while Hort 'campaigned' for Rafal. The people at the table turned around and gave Rafal their thumbs up.

Hort walked by to their table, taking a seat next to Beatrix.

"You think that'll help?" Hort asked. Rafal shrugged.

"Hopefully." Rafal answered.

The four of them kept talking until they all finished their lunch. When there were only five minutes remaining, they all headed for their lockers and eventually, to class.

Deciding to follow his own advice, Rafal went to the main office to sign up to be tutor. He decided to go after school, seeing as there isn't too many people around at that time of the day. Most people are just ready to leave school.

He wasn't wrong. As a matter of fact, it only took him about five minutes to do so. The main office was rather bleak in appearance; with beige colored-walls, blinds constantly drawn and the big, mahogany front desk, it wasn't the best place to go to when one is feeling down.

As he finished writing down his name on the sign-up sheet, someone called to him.

"Will you be tutoring French this year, too?" His teacher, Miss Anemone asked. Rafal looked up and nodded at his French teacher. Anemone was quite the serious woman. She was rarely humored, and her countenance usually held a grim expression, which contrasts with her bright blonde hair. It was hard to tell whether she liked you or not.

"Yeah, I always do." He replied, grinning.

"Good. Kids usually do well under your tutelage." With that, the young woman walked out of the office. Rafal handed back the clipboard to the receptionist, and left the main office, kindly saying goodbye to her.

As Rafal was heading out to leave, he bumped into Agatha. They cheerfully chatted about their day and eventually, about their campaign for President and Vice President. Agatha suddenly sobered up and after a few seconds of looking distracted, she said:

"Oh…did you see what someone did to one of your posters?" Agatha asked hesitantly. Judging from her somewhat apologetic expression, it wasn't something good. Rafal frowned and shook his head.

"Follow me." Agatha said, and Rafal blindly followed her to the second floor, where everyone's posters had been taped. He let out an exasperated groan.

Someone had crossed out all the writing with a black, possibly permanent marker, while they had taken a red marker and written in all uppercase: WHAT A DORK.

"How do you think it was?" Rafal asked, annoyance could be heard in his voice.

"Well, I don't think is a case of mudslinging, seeing as who the other candidates are. Maybe one of the misbehaving people, like Sophie and her friend Kiko?" Agatha suggested, "They do like to vandalize stuff." Agatha finished, disapproval could be heard in her voice.

"I wouldn't be surprised, nearly everyone is their victim." Rafal replied, strike staring at the poster. He decided to take it down before more people would see it.

"Thanks for telling me, hopefully not a lot of people took notice."

"Hey, I wouldn't want your chances ruined by some jerk. Well, I need to go! Cheer tryouts are in 15 minutes." Agatha waved him goodbye and he returned the gesture.

As Rafal exited the school, his exasperation increased. Who would even bother doing that?

Definitely not someone that had a lot to do. He didn't know whether he should let it go, or if he should take action. After all probably not a lot of people saw it, hopefully.

Rafal sighed as he got into his car and drove home. He still couldn't believe the amount of crap he needs to see at school.

As you all noticed _, Agatha was introduced and she's basically a sweetheart._ _Also, the line on Rafal's poster was an actual line someone used at my school when they ran for class president. I thought it'd fit Rafal tbh._

 _Your reviews great for me, so keep them going!_ _Let me know what you thought!_


	4. Winner but loser

_Thank you for the reviews in the past chapters! Here is the fourth chapter. It's kind of Rafal-centric, but I hope that is okay with you_

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

Although Rafal hoped it wouldn't happened, quite a few people saw his vandalized poster. However, this produced an unexpected outcome: it raised his popularity.

Some people decided to support Rafal just out of spite towards the vandal, while others felt it was an act of disrespect towards him. It was confusing why people reacted the way they did, but Rafal couldn't complain. After all, higher popularity assured him more votes.

After a week of campaigning, Election Day was upon the junior class. The three candidates all shared the same nervousness and excitement, but Rafal had some confidence he could win.

"Alright, so you know the drill: during your first period class, the ballots will be filled and you will vote. The results will be announced today at the end of the day over the speaker." Rafal instructed. His friends nodded.

They currently stood by Rafal's locker as he spoke. The walls in these hallways were a dark blue, and the dim lights created a gloomy atmosphere. There was still a couple of minutes left until the bell rang.

"You're probably going to win again, anyway." Tedros assured. Beatrix and Hort agreed.

"Yeah, I convinced the cheerleading squad to vote for you. And some jocks agreed, too." Hort announced.

"Didn't the Council already vote?" Beatrix asked. Rafal nodded.

"Yeah, during yesterday's meeting. Fingers crossed!" Rafal exclaimed.

"You'll be fine. By today's afternoon, we'll be celebrating your third consecutive victory." Hort said encouragingly. Rafal smiled.

"I sure hope so. The only downside to this, is that right after the election, we need to start planning Homecoming Week." The three of his friends cringed.

Homecoming Week at their school was usually plagued by terribly cheesy themes. It seemed every year, it got worse. That wasn't their only problem. The Student Council was in charge of decorating the gym for the dance, a task that could take up to 5 hours on a Saturday morning.

For many, it was the best week of the school year. For the Student Council, it was known as Hell Week.

"You guys don't even get to breathe with the Council, huh." Hort observed. Rafal nodded.

"It's okay; it's good to be part of the council. Oh, and remember to also vote for Agatha for Vice President. I want a good cabinet." Rafal reminded. His friends nodded again.

"No need to remind Tedros." Hort teased. Tedros rolled his eyes.

"Why are you like this?" Tedros asked rhetorically. Hort grinned.

"I have a valid point." Tedros sighed, but they all grinned at him.

The foursome continued talking until the bell rang. They left the dimly lit hallways, knowing what they needed to do. Rafal was counting on them, after all.

* * *

The day was a blur for Rafal; he had put in so much effort into his posters and his speech. Just the thought of losing was discouraging; he couldn't even fathom the reality of the possibility. He knew maybe he was fussing over some silly elections, but he actually had good ideas for this year's Homecoming and Prom. Besides, Rafal was a natural leader, and this was as close as he got to being one in some way.

Now, Rafal sat in his desk in history class, the last class of the day. Any minute now, the results of the elections would come over the PA. He nervously tapped his hand as he waited; Sader quickly wrote on the whiteboard, and Rafal kept up with her pace, but he had no idea what he was writing.

The sound of static filled the classroom. Rafal perked up at the sound. Evelyn's Sader's brother, August, was the one to speak. He filled in for Evelyn's Council duties when she was unable to do them.

"Hello, students. We're about to reveal the junior elections' results, so please listen up. For Treasurer we have Mona Green, and for Secretary we have Tarquin Rajashah. Now, for our Junior Vice President and President, the moment we've all waited," Rafal's tapping only quickened, "Agatha Woods for Vice President, and Rafal Blackburn for President. All members of the cabinet need to meet at room 140 at the end of the day. Thank you for listening, have a nice rest of the day." August's voice was gone and relief flooded Rafal.

He received applause from his classmates, except for a few, including Sophie, who darkly sat at his desk, still copying down the notes from the board.

"Good job, Rafal. You simply need to stay when the bell rings." Evelyn said, turning around and stopping from writing. Rafal smiled.

"Yes, of course." Not only he won, but also so did Agatha. This meant he would have a cooperative second-in-command.

Evelyn droned about the chapter until the bell rang. When it did, Rafal simply packed up his belongings but stayed in his seat, waiting for all members of cabinet to show up. It was for the silly tradition of taking a picture for the yearbook.

The first person to cross through the door was Agatha. She squealed at the sight of Rafal and they gave each other a congratulatory hug.

"I'm so glad we both won. Blackburn-Woods for the win!" Agatha exclaimed happily.

"I know! I'm sure we can accomplish a lot together." Rafal assured.

Tarquin and Mona eventually showed up, along with Anadil. She was one of the yearbook's photographer, so they decided to send her this time. She held her camera in her hand, with an eager expression in her face.

"Alright guys, just like, huddle and pose. Smile!" Anadil said, taking the picture while they all smiled.

She took the picture of all four of them, assuring they looked great, and after that, the students were allowed to leave.

"I'm really glad I won, to be honest. It would have been an awful day if I had both lost _and_ failed my Physics quiz…" Agatha sighed in disappointment . Rafal raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

"But you did so well last week, what do you think happened this time?" Rafal asked her. She shrugged.

"I have no clue! I studied for like two hours using the textbook and The Physics Classroom! I think I'm just going to sign up for a tutor, it might help, and I'm desperate enough to accept one." Agatha decided. Rafal had an idea.

"How would you feel about having Tedros as your tutor? I mean, he is reliable and good at Physics. Besides, there's always the risk of signing up for a tutor and ending up with someone you don't like, Sophie, for example." Rafal coaxed. Agatha winced at that idea

"I mean, you do have a point, and I don't mind, but what about him?" Agatha asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Well, I'm going to meet him by Beatrix's locker. We can go ask him right now, if you want to." Rafal suggested. Agatha deliberated for a couple of seconds.

"Well, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Why not?" Agatha said sheepishly. She followed Rafal as they walked through the crowded hallways, until they finally spotted Beatrix, Hort and Tedros. Hort was the first one to see them, and he tackled Rafal into a hug.

"Dude I told you, you won!" Hort said, then let go of Rafal, "You too, Agatha." She smiled brightly at him.

"Thank you." She replied.

"Alright, although I appreciate the congratulatory atmosphere, I do have something important to do." Rafal stated. His three friends stared at him in confusion. Agatha cleared her throat.

"Right, well, I'm almost failing Physics…" Agatha confessed, turning to Tedros, "Rafal said you could help me, instead of me having to go through the process of getting a tutor. But is

completely fine if you can't…or don't want to."

Tedros raised his eyebrows in pure puzzlement. He then felt the heat rise to his cheeks.

That _would_ be a good opportunity…but at the same time, he would probably blow it. Like always.

"Y-yeah, I can do it… j-just tell me when and where, and I'll help you." Tedros stammered. Agatha smiled at him.

"Thank you! I really don't want to fail…I'll tell you later when we can meet, but again, thank you! Well, I need to go now; I told Anadil and Hester I'd meet them by the front as soon as I could, but I'll see you around!" Agatha waved at them and left, her heels clicking against the floor.

"Well?" Rafal asked Tedros. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Well what?" Tedros asked. Rafal sighed.

"I think I deserve a 'thank you'" Rafal demanded. Tedros looked down.

Right…he had just agreed to tutor Agatha. His crush of God-knows how many years.

"Thanks, man. I really do owe you one. I mean, you said you would put in some good word about me, but this was faster than I expected." Tedros acknowledged. Rafal smirked in satisfaction.

"Yeah! Dang, Rafal, who knew you'd be so good at it?" Beatrix said. Rafal shrugged.

"If only you could do the same for yourself." Hort sniggered. Rafal glared at him.

"I do really need to work on my challenge, thing, you know…yikes, I don't think I can have a date for Homecoming…" Rafal thought aloud.

"It's fine, as long as you have someone in mind for Prom, your end of the deal is satisfied." Beatrix clarified. Rafal shrugged.

"So, are we doing what we do every year when you win?" Tedros asked, a grin plastered on his face. They all smiled; every year, they would go to the mall and eat ice cream. They knew it was kind of dorky, but they did it anyway.

"We can, but don't you need to tell your parents?" Rafal asked. They grinned at him.

"We all told them in advance we would get home later than usual. We got this." Hort assured. Rafal stared at them in shock, but shrug it off quickly.

"If you say so…I guess we can head out." Rafal said. They nodded and decided to head out the hallways to the parking lot.

* * *

The drive from the school to the mall was hectic; it was rush hour, and the traffic was worse than usual. Gavaldon's calm streets were full of honks from frazzled drivers, including Rafal himself.

Luckily, they made it to the mall. It wasn't nearly as crowded as the streets, seeing as some people were still at work, and it was Thursday.

The foursome headed to their usual shop, Sprinkles. You can take a guess what's the most popular topping, they offer. They exited through the shop's glass door, taking a seat at a table outside. The cool October breeze could be felt in their faces.

"It's been kind of chilly today, good thing I wore a jacket." Hort observed. He currently wore a dark brown jacket over an _Avengers_ t-shirt.

"So, how do you feel about winning for third consecutive time?" Beatrix asked Rafal. He grinned at her.

"Feels great. I hope they give me and my cabinet more freedom with planning Homecoming than they usually do…Is it me or are the cones here getting bigger?" Rafal said, as he ate his strawberry ice cream. They all shrugged.

"Tastes the same for me, so it's all good. ." Tedros shrugged.

"Are we going to address what Rafal did today for you or no?" Hort asked, smirking. Tedros groaned.

"Do we really? This should be about Rafal, not about me." Tedros said.

"We can make it about you; it's always about me." Rafal replied, grinning. Tedros glared.

"Dude, is just tutoring. Besides, it's your best subject. How hard can it be to explain momentum or like, Newton's Laws to your crush?" Hort asked.

"Have you met me?" Tedros responded, earning a giggle from Beatrix.\

"Chillax, you'll make it out alive." Beatrix said reassuringly, giving him a pat on his back

"Yeah, I don't think she even likes anyone. It's your chance to make your move." Hort advised.

"I don't know what my move is because I have no game." Tedros stated. They all laughed at that.

"Look, if it's that bad, you can always come to me for advice." Hort assured. Tedros smiled at that.

"When was the last time you even had a date? Like six months ago?" Rafal asked.

"When was the last time _you_ had a date?" Hort retorted. Rafal laughed.

"In my last life, probably." In that moment, Rafal's phone went off with a 'ding!' He took it out of his pocket and frowned.

"What's wrong?" Beatrix asked.

"Anemone emailed me…this can't be good. I don't get it. What could it be? I've done all work and excelled at it!" Rafal responded, feeling a sense of dread overcome him. Anemone was one scary woman.

"Just read it and find out. It might be good." Hort offered. Beatrix and Rafal shot him a look.

"Anemone never emails you for positive reasons; is just who she is." Beatrix explained. Hort and Tedros shared a glance; Mr. Espada, their Spanish teacher, never emailed them. They couldn't see the logic here.

Rafal read and kept scrolling, his expression changing from worry, to confusion, to an unreadable one.

"Well, what is it?" Hort asked, just as Rafal put down his phone. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"Good news; I didn't do anything wrong…" His friends looked at him expectantly. All the joy he had had about winning suddenly evaporated.

"She just told me who I'm tutoring, and I don't like this at all." Rafal announced, holding up his phone for his friends to read the emailed.

Tedros and Hort winced. Beatrix's jaw dropped in shock.

Anemone had just made the worst mistake when assigning tutors.

* * *

 _To all my American reviewers, happy 4th! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter._

 _Please review, they keep me going!_


	5. Clash

_I realize I updated yesterday...but two days in a row won't kill anyone...right?_

 _I love how all the reviews were you guys guessing it was Sophie, lol. You get your answer now._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

Rafal has always had a pleasant demeanor. In fact, he rarely gets angry. He might get irritated, but never angry.

Today was the exception.

He through his day would get better. After all, he had won his coveted presidency, helped out Tedros, and had gotten ice cream at his favorite place.

Just for Anemone to ruin it with her blasted email.

He earned some sympathy from his friends, but they all knew it wasn't going to be a smooth ride for him. They went for a walk around the mall, making fun of wacky exhibitions and pointing out interesting stores.

When the time to leave came, Rafal acted as everyone's chauffeur; he rode around town, giving all of his friends a ride home. He dropped off Hort first, then Beatrix, and lastly, Tedros.

As Rafal parked in front of Tedros' lawn, the blonde-haired boy took his belongings with him, but before he left, he said;

"Thanks for…you know what. I know your mood was ruined by Anemone, but if there's someone who can take on this challenge, is definitely you, Rafal. Thanks for the ride, too." Tedros smiled at Rafal, and the gesture was returned.

"Thanks for the encouragement; I'll need it…and don't worry, I got your back." Rafal replied. Tedros grinned and got out of the car. Rafal waited until Tedros went in his house, and he headed home.

He checked his clock on his car. It read 5:47. Not too late. Rafal drove home, still huffing from today's news.

Rafal was never one to minimize anyone's feelings, and he wasn't going to do so with himself. He had the right to be pissed. Hell, he _needed_ to be angry. It was unjust, for someone like him to get this punishment.

He parked his car in his garage, took out his keys, and opened the door that led to his kitchen. It's walls were painted white, while all the cabinets were the color of onyx stones, and the floors were made of white marble.

Rafal made his way upstairs. He dragged his every step, dreading his Pre-Calc homework, along with his Physics worksheet, and needing to study for tomorrow's English test. Oh, and his flash cards for French.

He frowned at the thought of _that_ class. His anger was still fresh and ready to be released.

He turned on the lights to his office. Him and his dad lived in a 5 bedroom house, and seeing as they had extra rooms, they turned one into their own office. Here, Rafal had his desk, which was currently full of old worksheets and notecards. To his right, there was a mahogany bookshelf, full of novels, some old AP Review books, and some comics Hort and Tedros had made him read. He had made his dad paint the walls a light shade of green because he heard the color facilitated learning. His father had scoffed but Rafal convinced him.

The platinum-haired boy sat down and started his working shift, sighing at his work load, and currently moping at his fate.

Anemone had requested his presence at her classroom tomorrow at the end of the day. Apparently, his pupil was unaware at the moment of…any of this. Rafal was expecting the worst.

He was expecting all Hell to break loose.

It was a widely-known fact among French students that Anemone only emailed about negative situations; failing a test, misbehavior, or failing the class itself.

Sophie Jones was the latest victim of Emma Anemone's emails. She had sat by the bleachers with her friends, Kiko Nakamura and Tristan Grimes, when her phone lit up. Suddenly, her loud cackles were silenced by the terror that drowned her.

She knew she had a 72 in French at the moment, and that wasn't good. At all. If she flunked another quiz, she would have a D in the class. She might be a rebel, but she was pressured into having the best grades she could have.

And a D was far from that.

So when she read the blunt email, requesting her to show up at her classroom, she knew she had failed. _Again._

Sophie was torn. She didn't know if she should be vexed, or worried. Or both.

When the bell rang at 3, her heavy black boots could be heard against the floor. She pushed people out of her way, rushing to know how screwed she was.

As she expected, Anemone's door was closed. She opened it and widened her eyes in terror.

Anemone sat in her desk, her lips drawn in a serious expression. But it wasn't this sight that made her heart stop.

In front of her desk, there were two chairs. One was empty, but the other one was taken. He sat with a grim expression, avoiding Sophie's gaze.

"What is he doing here? You never told me anything about _him_ coming." Sophie demanded. Rafal faced her and sneered.

"Sit down, and we will talk." Anemone ordered. Sophie stood by the door in anger, but gave in and sat down.

"Look, I noticed your grades have…declined significantly. I decided to take it into my own hands and sign you up for tutoring." Anemone explained.

"Without my consent?" Sophie asked in disbelief. "You have no ri—

"I do. As the head of tutoring, I'm allowed. Look Sophie, you are hard to handle, and we both know it. But you're not meeting the requirements, and you obviously need help. It seems like you weren't going to come for any, so I took it upon myself." Anemone explained. Rage flowed through Sophie's bloodstream.

"But why _him?_ " Sophie groaned. Anemone pulled out a paper. It had Sophie's name on it, and a red _69_ on the right hand corner. Sophie winced.

"Because, this is evidence of your performance so far. Besides, Rafal is one of my best students. He has the brains _and_ the patience to help you. Unless you want to keep failing…"

Sophie and Rafal shared a glare. She did need the help, but not from this neat freak.

"You are right…" Sophie admitted, through gritted teeth.

"Now, I understand there is some tension between you. That is your problem, and is completely up to you to deal with it like mature young adults. If you don't raise your grade to at least a 78 before the quarter ends, Rafal will be your tutor for the remainder of the semester." Anemone announced.

" _WHAT?!"_ Both teens exclaimed in unison. That was two entire months of each other's company. Two months more than needed.

"But that's impossible! There is only two quizzes left, and the average I need to raise is my test average!" Sophie complained. Anemone remained silent.

"Is there any way she can raise her grade besides those quizzes?" Rafal asked, obviously not wanting to spend the remainder of the semester with Sophie.

"Only homework and quizzes." Anemone shrugged, "Is up to you. You are dismissed. I expect the best from you two." They both stood and left the classroom.

They awkward stood outside the classroom. Sophie scowled, while Rafal frowned. He sighed, and Sophie looked up in puzzlement.

"Look, let's just figure this out. I can tutor you any day of the week, except for Wednesdays." Rafal started. Sophie glared at him, and then finally replied.

"I mean, any day will suck, but I'm available every day. Thursday's and Tuesday's work."

"Alright. We can meet at the library." Rafal offered. Sophie shook her head.

"I'm banned from the library." Sophie said, taking out her phone from her pocket. Rafal widened his eyes.

"How do you even do that?" He asked in disbelief.

"Vandalizing books does the job. I say we meet at my house; my mom will be out of town this week, so we won't be disturbing anyone. Besides, she can't know about me nearly failing French and needing a tutor…well, until the report cards come out…" Sophie said. Rafal frowned again.

"I mean, I'm usually by myself at my house as well, if that's the criteria we're using." He offered. Sophie coldly stared at him.

"We're meeting at my place." Sophie snapped. Rafal loudly groaned.

"Are you always like this when people try to help you?" Rafal asked.

"Get off your high horse; you don't even want to help me." Sophie accused. Rafal sighed.

"True enough…but you definitely don't behave the way you do…"

"I didn't sign up for tutoring, and I most definitely did not sign up for morality lessons." Sophie snapped, restraining herself from shoving Rafal into the nearest locker.

"I say we meet on Tuesday, seeing as the quarter ends in only two weeks. Unless you want to have a D in French." Rafal said. Sophie took a deep breath.

"Is not like I have a choice, anyways. Meet me by the parking lot on Tuesday. You're lucky I still care about my GPA, otherwise I wouldn't do this." Sophie said, turning on her heel and leaving.

"You do?" Rafal mumbled. Sophie turned around, and faced him.

"Did you say something?" Sophie asked, narrowing her eyes. Rafal shook his head.

"Nothing that concerns you…well, there isn't really a lot that concerns you." Rafal sneered.

" _Fuck off!_ " Sophie yelled as she walked away. Rafal rolled his eyes at Sophie's brashness.

He wondered what had he done to deserve this.

"I don't get it, there's like 50 kids that take French, why me?" Rafal asked Tedros.

They sat on the stairs by the school's front. Hort had convinced Beatrix to help him with a project for his drawing class, so the two had stayed after school working on that, leaving Rafal and Tedros to their own whereabouts.

"Well, you have a good grade in the class, you have a good accent and pronunciation, according to Bea, at least, you never misbehave, and you're the Class president, which means you're responsible and all that stuff…you were the clearest option." Tedros replied. Rafal slumped.

"She already told me to fuck off! In like five minutes! How am I going to do this for an entire semester?" Rafal questioned. Tedros frowned.

"Why the semester?" Tedros asked.

"Anemone said if Sophie doesn't raise her grade to a 78, I'm stuck with her for the remainder of the semester. There's no way she can pull that off. She has like a 68…Anemone did this on purpose; I mean, the most I've tutored someone was a month. This is twice that, and it was a kid from regular classes." Rafal explained. Tedros nodded in understanding.

"I see…maybe she just wants to assure she won't slip back into bad grades? I don't know…what I do know, is that you two will kill each other." Tedros said. Rafal nodded.

"If I don't make it on Wednesday, you know what happened…" Rafal said darkly. Tedros chuckled.

"I guess planning Homecoming doesn't sound as bad anymore, huh?" Tedros joked.

"Sadly, you're right…" Rafal moped.

He came to the terrifying realization that he had all his assignments and Council duties on top of tutoring Sophie.

He wondered how he was going to do this.

* * *

 **Yes, you all guessed correctly. I guess it was predictable, but eh, it will be fun to watch...and write for me.**

 **If you could please do me a favor and leave a review with some constructive criticism that would be fantastic! I appreciate all of your reviews, follows, and favorites.**

 **On a super unrelated note, my other fic Imperfect Queen is only 9 favorites away from 100! If you want, you can head over and maybe favorite it?**


	6. Struggle

**Hello and welcome to another chapter! I want to thank you for being such kind and loyal readers. Your reviews really keep me motivated. This chapter was super hard to write for me tbh.**

 **Pls enjoy!**

* * *

Ever since she was a kid, Agatha earned herself a reputation of being forgetful and klutzy. Friday night she had been too busy with cheer practice and dealing with some tasks for the Council.

It wasn't until Saturday afternoon she had run into an inconvenient:

Tedros had agreed to help her with physics, but they still hadn't talked about when they were going to meet, or where. It wouldn't be so bad if she hadn't a quiz on Wednesday.

She groaned as she laid down on her bed. It seemed she could never catch a break with this subject.

They had, thankfully, moved onto momentum. She considered it easier than displacement, but she didn't trust herself. It was better to prevent than to regret.

Agatha took her phone from her nightstand and quickly texted Rafal. She figured he must have Tedros' phone number. After all, they're like best friends.

She quietly waited for a response, as she gazed up at the ceiling. Her bedroom walls were a pale shade of pink, and she had a couple of framed pictures on them. It felt warm, and it matched her aesthetic.

She took her phone, looking at Rafal's response. Agatha quickly typed up a response. She added the new number to her contacts, and texted him, concisely asking him when they could meet.

She then realized she hadn't even bothered saying who it was, so she hurriedly typed another text, introducing herself.

Agatha got up from her bed and went to her window: the sun was setting, painting the sky with pink, orange, and yellow tones. She enjoyed looking out her window, because the sky was always different. Gavaldon might never change, but its skies surely looked different every night. Sometimes you could see more stars, other days few could be spotted. Full moons were sometimes more luminous, and sometimes, not so much.

She had a really nice view from up there, but she decided to check her phone again. She sighed.

"Come on, Tedros. My physics grade kind of needs you…" Agatha said to herself, as she paced around the room. It was one of those lazy afternoons, when you want to do something, but at the same time, you just want to lay down.

Giving in to impatience, she took her phone again. Finally, she had a notification.

 _I think Tuesday would be better, since it's right before the quiz. Do you think the library is okay?_

Agatha quickly typed her reply:

 _Yeah, it all sounds good!_

She sighed in relief, knowing she would do better with Tedros' help.

The weekend went too fast for Agatha's liking, and she needed to start her week again. Ever since Saturday, she had been reviewing for her physics quiz. Along with her Algebra quiz on Monday. She had been so worried about doing well, she had rejected Anadil's invite to hang out.

Agatha sighed. Her friends didn't really understand her struggle to keep up with her honors classes, because they didn't take them. Agatha was usually swamped with homework, while her friends were off the hook.

When class was dismissed on Tuesday, she walked through the hallways quickly. She had told Hester she wouldn't be able to come to cheer practice, but she knew it was a good idea to remind her again.

Finding Hester wasn't too hard, seeing as there was usually like five or six people around her locker, even if the bell had just rung. She chattered with Anadil and Dot, but Ravan was there as well. Except he was looking down at his phone.

Anadil spotted Agatha and smiled at her, "Hey,"

"Hey, Hester, I was just coming to remind you that I won't be at cheer practice today." Agatha said. Hester gave her a thumbs up.

"I know. You really need to get your grades high again; Homecoming is approaching and I need you to be at practice every day for that game." Hester ordered. Agatha nodded.

"I know, I know. I'll see what I can do. So, I'll just see you around later." She waved goodbye at everyone and headed for the library.

She knew she wasn't going to be an expert in physics by next week, so she either skipped tutoring for next week, or ditched the practice at least once next time. The latter was impossible cause she knew Hester was hell-bent on going to practice for Homecoming' game.

Agatha walked from building to building. The library was in the main building, but she had had her last class in the adjacent building. It wasn't too much of a walk, but it was annoying getting through the crowds of people.

Tedros was standing by the door. He had his physics textbook in one hand, and in the other, he held his phone and then put it back in his pocket. When he looked up, Agatha waved at him. He sheepishly returned the gesture.

"Hey, I hoped you weren't waiting for too long." Agatha said. Tedros shook his head.

"No, not at all." Tedros replied. He opened the doors of the library and held it for her.

Agatha had faith in Tedros, after all, she knew he was intelligent enough to do this. She just hoped she was, too.

* * *

Rafal was currently waiting by the parking lot. He was impatiently checking the time every five seconds, but Sophie was nowhere in sight. He groaned loudly, getting some strange looks from the people around him. He didn't care though.

Sophie said she'd meet him by the parking lot at 3:05, but it was already 3:20 and she hadn't showed up. Rafal hated wasting his time, and it seemed Sophie was purposely stalling.

He'd been hesitant about the entire arrangement, but this only furthered his doubts. Was Sophie even committed to saving her own grade? It sure didn't seem like it.

Rafal heard the doors open, and the sound of heavy footsteps. Sophie was going down the stairs, carrying her bag and wearing an uninterested expression.

"Let's just do this quickly so we can end our suffering." Sophie said, pulling out keys from her bag.

"Quickly? _Quickly?_ You're like twenty minutes late!" Rafal angrily demanded, but followed her nonetheless.

"An AP Language project came up, geez. I have a life, too." Sophie snapped.

"You could at least say that and apoplogize! I waited there for twenty minutes like an idiot." Rafal complained. Sophie cackled mirthlessly.

"You're an idiot 24/7, the only difference is that you were waiting." Sophie shot. Rafal took a deep breath, and suddenly halted. Sophie unlocked the doors to a car. Rafal didn't even know she owned a car. It was an expensive one, too: a silver Lexus.

"You have a car?" Rafal asked incredulously. Sophie rolled her eyes.

"No, I stole it. Get in." Sophie got in, and Rafal, not having any choice, did the same.

"Now, are we sure we can't go to like a coffee shop or something? I feel is too weird going to your house when there's plenty of options." Rafal objected.

"Is fine. I don't feel like being seen in public with you, and I'm sure neither do you." Sophie replied, focusing on driving. Rafal had to agree. It would be suspicious if the two of them were seen in public. Especially if they were alone. Rafal knew the kind of conclusions people jump to.

Sophie drove, and not a single word was spoken afterwards. Rafal had a lot of questions about this: where did Sophie live? Was she sure her parents weren't going to be at home? And if they were, would they be okay with him showing up unexpectedly?

Sophie parked by her house's driveway, and Rafal had to refrain from staring. He _did not_ expect to see this type of house: it was definitely bigger than he expected, and he could count like five windows just in the first story. The second story had a balcony, and it had columns that held it up. The house was painted with a shade of pale yellow, and the lawn had a few bushes with flowers.

"Surprised? Yes, I am rich, before you ask. Just keep your mouth shut." Sophie ordered. Rafal ignored her and just stared. It was as nice as his own house, something he could say about very few homes he had seen.

He wordlessly followed Sophie. It was equally nice on the inside: wooden floors, high ceilings, and white walls made up the interior. The staircase was on the left, and the dining room was on the right. Sophie put her stuff on a chair on the dining table and headed for the refrigerator.

"Do I just take a seat here?" Rafal asked, signaling to the table. Sophie nodded as she sipped soda from a can.

Rafal took out his textbook form his bag, and waited for Sophie to sit down. She did, and her annoyance was already showing.

"Alright, seeing as we're being quizzed on the subjunctive, we're just going to focus on that and make sure you get an A. That way we can shorten our pain." Rafal said. Sophie merely nodded.

When Anemone announced he'd be tutoring Sophie, Rafal knew it'd be arduous work. He wished he had been wrong.

"I'm adding the fucking ending! What am I doing wrong?!" Sophie demanded.

"You're using the wrong ending! Is supposed to be –ions!" Rafal explained. Sophie groaned.

"God, you're so patient! That's so endearing." Sophie sarcastically said. Rafal sneered.

" I told you five times! Five!" Rafal defended himself. He sighed, "Now, let's just move on to this one." Rafal pointed to exercise 7, reading it out loud. Sophie stifled a laugh.

"What?" Rafal asked, irritation showing in his voice.

"Your accent is so poor." Sophie grinned maliciously.

"Ah yes, right. According to you, you have the best accent among us…but you have a 69 in the class…clearly shows is not all about pronunciation and accent…" Rafal replied. Sophie glared.

"You will see…I will bring up that to at least a 75 before this quarter ends. Next quarter, I will have a 93 or higher. Just watch me." Sophie pledged, not breaking eye contact not even once. It unnerved Rafal, but he wouldn't be caught dead admitting so.

"We'll see about that…you have the intellectual capacity, but if you don't listen to me, you won't get better…" Rafal said.

"Then enlighten me." Sophie barked sarcastically. Rafal glanced from his textbook to her.

"It's our only option…" Rafal sighed.

He had a long road coming. After all, he knew Sophie wouldn't be able to have anything higher than a 78 before the quarter ended. He felt as if Anemone had purposely put them together, as if it was a social experiment to see how long two people could go before they killed each other.

By the end of the session, all of Rafal's energy had been sucked out of him. Sophie was naturally argumentative; he had heard her in class many times, going back and forth with teachers, but she became especially argumentative in his presence. In addition, it seemed she had a new insult up her sleeve every five minutes.

It was _exhausting._ After a while, Rafal didn't even bother fighting back. Sophie saw this as a sign of weakness, and poked more fun from it.

When the clock struck 4:45, Rafal called it quits.

"I think that'll be enough for today." He announced, putting away his textbooks.

"Can't handle me anymore, can you?" Sophie taunted. Rafal didn't bother looking at her.

"No. I truly believe we, somehow, made some progress. At the end, you weren't even struggling that much with conjugation. So, my job is done for today…are we set for Thursday?" Sophie shrugged.

"We don't any other option, do we?" She asked cynically. "Same time, same place. Let's see how long we can put up with each other…"

Rafal wanted to rant about how she was the problem. How she ticked him off and made them lose focus. How he just kept his mouth shut and didn't taunt her. He wanted to yell about how stupid this entire thing was. How she was ruining this for herself without realizing it.

But instead, he curtly said:

"Just be on time." He could feel her rolling her eyes.

"I make no promises."

Rafal walked over to the door. His dad, surprisingly, had agreed to pick him up, and sure enough, his car was parked in front of Sophie's lawn. He quietly stepped in the passenger seat and buckled up.

"Hey, how was it?" His father asked. Rafal sighed, slumping.

"Bad." Rafal replied. His father raised his eyebrows.

"That bad?" Rafal nodded. It wasn't too hard to have an idea of how he'd look in a few years, because him and his father were each other's splitting image. Except his dad didn't wear glasses and had deep lines across his forehead.

"She's…a nightmare. I don't want to talk about it." Rafal said. If there was something good about his dad, it's that he never pushed him to talk.

Besides, Rafal usually ranted to his friends, and he felt inadequate talking to his dad about his problems. He was too used to dealing with them on his own by now.

It was a long drive, because his house was on the other side of town. There was some traffic, but nothing too major. Rafal looked out of the window, silently taking in the pastel-colored houses and the green lawns.

* * *

"I mean, I think it went well, but that's just me." Tedros said. He had called Rafal over a question for history, and the conversation had drifted to his tutoring session.

"Really? That's good! Did you manage to speak without stuttering?" Rafal asked, sitting at his desk.

"A couple of times, actually. God, it sounds lame, but I think that's good. I was still really nervous, though. Sometimes I see her and just think she's too perfect for me." Tedros confessed. Rafal sighed.

"That's nonsense; you could have a chance with her. Look, I know this is definitely not my area of expertise, but we all have to start somewhere, right? If she gets to know you better, it's likelier she'll eventually like you. If you've been in love with her for like three years, a couple of months will feel like nothing." Rafal said.

"Thanks. Anyway, how did it go with Sophie?" Tedros asked. Rafal sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

"Badly; that girl has more poison than any snake. I swear, she was quiet for like ten minutes, and those were the best ten minutes of the entire thing. Today just confirmed my hate towards her." Rafal said.

"If it was someone else, I would tell you to give her a chance, but I've never been a fan of Sophie; she's too rude to everyone for my liking." Tedros spoke, and Rafal couldn't agree more.

"She's rude and obnoxious. I can't wait for these months to be over." Rafal sighed.

"You can do this. Besides, Sophie seems really smart. I'm sure she'll get it in no time." Tedros encouraged.

"She _is_ really smart. Imagine if she used her brains for good instead of thinking of new ways of tormenting everyone." Rafal remarked, "How do you get to tutor your crush and I get stuck with the devil's spawn?"

Tedros laughter could be heard from the other side of the line.

"I guess luck wasn't on your side this time." Tedros offered. Rafal looked at the walls as he said:

"Yeah…I guess…it sucks though. Thanks for listening to my rant, though. I shouldn't be raining on your parade with my misery." Rafal apologized sheepishly.

"Oh please, you listen to me wallow in self pity all the time, is only fair to listen to your rants." Tedros chuckled. "I gotta go; Lesso's homework won't do itself."

"I'll see you tomorrow." Rafal hung up and put down his phone. He rubbed his temples while he leaned on his chair, not wanting to do his Pre-Calc homework.

The next week was going to be hellish, for sure.

* * *

 **I feel like this wasn't really my best and it ended up being a filler chapter *sigh***

 **However, next chapter should have more action in it, I can feel it in my bones! (okay not like that either)**

 **Please leave a review!**


	7. Game Night

Much to Rafal's surprise, Homecoming Week was going remarkably smoothly. The Council had the decided the daily themes and they weren't ridiculous, the rate of participation was higher than it had in years, and the theme for the dance, Night of Stars, had the students excitedly chattering about Saturday.

Rafal was very pleased with himself and his team. If he was enjoying Homecoming Week, then it was a good sign. Even if he was still stuck tutoring Sophie, the thought faded to the back of his head.

In fact, he was rather bummed out that this week was ending. Unlike previous year, it had flown by. Him and the Council had definitely worked better this year, and they managed to make everything less stressful.

It was Friday, and nearly everyone was wearing black, white and sky blue, the school's colors. Every year, Friday was used to show 'Swan Pride' by wearing the school's colors. Rafal wished they wouldn't do the same thing every year, but it was the one thing the Council was required to do.

"So, are you coming to the football game tonight?" Hort asked Rafal, as he stood by his locker. Rafal nodded. Beatrix and Tedros were both going over some Spanish notecards, completely ignoring Hort's question.

"Yeah…I might be a little late, though. The decorations for the gym this year are giving everyone a headache…especially all the lights we've had to untangle." Rafal explained, and Hort nodded.

"What about you two?" Hort asked Beatrix and Tedros. They snapped and faced him.

"What?" Beatrix blinked.

"Are you guys coming tonight?" Hort asked. Beatrix and Tedros nodded.

"Yeah, Sports Medicine needs to be there, so I need to go. That means I'll be with them most of the time, but I don't think they'll mind if I talk to you guys for a few minutes." Tedros said.

Sports Medicine was a school club formed by all the kids that had an interest in medicine and wanted to practice their knowledge. They often were at games and helped any injured players. Tedros joined every year, and often was seen at football games due to his involvement with the club.

Rafal had thought about joining the club last year, but decided against it. He was already too involved with other clubs. Besides, he wasn't that interested in medicine like the other members.

"That makes sense. I'll try to be here early and see if I can find us a seat close by." Hort offered.

"I can come with you; I have nothing to do this afternoon." Beatrix offered. Hort accepted and nodded.

"Oh, I just remembered something: did you ever invite a girl to the dance, Rafal?" Tedros asked. Rafal blinked.

He knew they would ask, so he had secretly asked Beatrix. After all, they were friends, and he knew she'd accept.

"Beatrix can answer that question for you." Rafal replied. Tedros laughed, but Hort rolled his eyes.

"That's so predictable…" Hort muttered.

"It counts." Beatrix said, "I still had a date, after all" She flashed them a grin.

"I did my end of the deal, now it's your turn." Rafal told Hort and Tedros. He started walking towards his first period class, but heard Hort yell:

"So did I!"

Football games were usually seen as the highlight of Homecoming Week. Whether you bonded with your schoolmates, or whether it was the thrill of winning, there was always something good about the games.

Beatrix didn't really share the thrill of everyone else, but she always came. She usually just watched the game for the first twenty minutes, then wandered off to talk to Reena or Dot. They usually met by the concessions stand and talked, completely ignoring the game. Then they would get something to eat.

"So, how many players do you think will injure themselves?" Beatrix asked Tedros. They were currently standing by the team area. Sports Medicine had their equipment, and a few club members hung out there.

"Eh, who knows. Hopefully not many." Tedros replied.

"Well, I'll go to the bleachers; I don't want to lose my seat." Beatrix waved him goodbye, and quickly went up the bleachers. She scanned the crowd to see if she could find Hort, but she couldn't see him. She frowned. He'd said he'd say hi to Ravan, but it seemed he was saying hi to the entire Homecoming Court.

She sighed. Why did she come with him? She should've waited by the entrance for Rafal to show up.

She felt someone sit next to her, and she was about to say it was taken, when she realized it was Hort.

"Oh, it's you." Beatrix said.

"Who did you think it was?" Hort frowned. Beatrix shrugged.

"Anyways, you took forever to come back. Where was Ravan? I couldn't see him with the rest of the Court." Beatrix observed.

"Oh, he was there, but then he went to talk to the cheerleaders and I tagged alone." Hort explained. Beatrix nodded.

A few minutes of silence passed, then Hort asked:

"So, when did Rafal ask you?" Beatrix shrugged and looked away.

"Yesterday…I thought he had joked when he'd said he could ask me." Beatrix confessed.

"Did he just like, ask you? I mean, did—

"Yeah. I know what you mean, he simply asked me. So, did you ask someone?" Beatrix guessed he hadn't. Otherwise, the school had talked about his proposal to whoever he had asked.

"No…I could've asked Dot, but I didn't….I guess I felt wrong not asking someone unless it was you. Habits die hard, right?" Hort said sheepishly. Beatrix let out a weak giggle.

"You did your end of the deal, after all…" Beatrix said, facing him. He grinned.

"Yeah…I think no one expected me to pull it off." Hort said.

"There's still Prom, though." Beatrix reminded. "Still need to make it through that one."

"I be you'd like me to ask you." Hort teased. Beatrix laughed, but said nothing else.

When Rafal had asked her, she had said yes. After all, they were friends, and she knew Rafal didn't really have anyone else to ask without feeling uncomfortable. Still, she had felt like she was just a default choice. It was different when Hort asked her; she knew he had other friends, so he had a wide range of options, but he always asked her.

Beatrix felt silly for thinking this, but it made her feel just a little special. She was never the object of anyone's jealousy, but she heard the nasty comments made about her, or the glances she got when he asked her. The only downside was all the rumors it brought; some people had thought he liked her, or vice versa. Beatrix knew more than people thought.

The game went on, and still no sign of Rafal. Beatrix wonder what was taking so long. She knew decorating the gym took a while, but it was taking longer than usual. She hoped it would be worth it.

Just as she got a text from Reena and told Hort she was going to the concession stand, she saw Rafal going up the bleachers.

"Wait where are you going?" He asked her.

"Reena asked me to meet her by the concession stand…I'll back in like ten minutes."

"You always say that!" Rafal called after her. Beatrix walked through the crowds, until she spotted Reena.

She decided to wear a light blue hijab for today's theme, which perfectly matched with her shirt. Beatrix waved at her and Reena spotted her.

"Hey! So, I have enough money for two medium snow cones; are you up for it?" Reena asked Beatrix.

"Yeah, I'm always up for one." Beatrix said.

Although she loved hanging out with the boys, she sometimes needed some girlfriends, and Reena was one of them.

"Are you coming to the dance tomorrow?" Reena asked. Beatrix nodded excitedly.

"Are you?" Reena nodded in return.

"Yeah, Nicholas actually asked me. How about you? Well, I'm sure Hort asked you like he always does…right?" Beatrix shook her head and Reena raised her eyebrows in shock.

"He didn't…is kind of a dumb story." Beatrix said.

"I bet! Tell." Reena ordered. Beatrix rolled her eyes but smiled.

She told Reena about everyone's bet, without mentioning any details about Tedros'. She also told Reena she still didn't have any bets, and explained why Rafal asked her instead of Hort.

"That's so dumb! Why should he ask someone else besides you if he doesn't want to? And, seriously Rafal? You could've told me beforehand; I spent three hours with him! I would've told him why that was so wrong….boys…" Reena sighed, signaling a close to her rant.

"Look, maybe they believe Hort only does it to spare me some hurt feelings, I don't know. It's silly, really. And Rafal….lets say he is not the best at proposals…I kind of understand though." Beatrix said, as she stepped forward with Reena, approaching the end of the line.

"But wait…do you like… _like_ Hort?" Reena asked in a hushed tone . Beatrix fidgeted and shrugged.

"Just a little…like, a little, teeny tiny crush." Beatrix admitted. Reena squealed, and Beatrix slapped her arm.

"That's so cute, though…" Reena said.

"Look, me liking him is as unrealistic as unicorns…that's never going to happen, we're too close friends for him to like me like that." Beatrix said. Reena rolled her eyes.

"Fine…you said they all had like, a challenge except you, right?" Beatrix nodded. "Then why not make yours to get over him, or tell him?" Reena suggested.

"That's a terrible idea!" Beatrix exclaimed. "They probably want to know, and I don't think either of those two is going to happen…"

"Oh please, Bea. There's plenty of fish in the sea, and don't even come at me with that 'but he is my ocean' crap. Besides, who did he even ask this year?" Reena asked, but their conversation was interrupted by them buying their snow cones.

"So, who was it?" Reena asked, savoring her green apple snow cone.

"No one. He didn't ask anyone." Beatrix replied.

"…that's fishy…do you seriously think he doesn't like you not even a bit?" Reena asked. Beatrix sighed.

"I don't think so. I know so." Beatrix replied.

The floats for Homecoming Court eventually showed up, and Anadil and Ravan looked fantastic. The junior class roared at their sight, and the pair soaked up every minute of it. Then, they walked down the field and smiled dazzlingly at the crowd.

Anadil looked great in her short, halter navy blue dress, while Ravan looked handsome as ever in his al black look, with the exception of his red tie.

Beatrix had made her way back from the concession stand, and Reena had decided to stay with her other friends. Hort and Rafal received her and filled her in with the game. Beatrix simply listened, not really caring. She was still surprised she had finally told Reena, and that distracted her from the game.

Eventually, it was time for the cheerleaders to do their routine, and they didn't fail to impress. Hester had really outdone herself this year.

Beatrix had glued her eyes to them; they made it look really simple…how did they—

But then something went wrong; Agatha, Hester, and another girl held up Giselle at the top of the pyramid. But when Agatha tried to go down by doing a flip, she suffered a really bad fall.

Beatrix widened her eyes. Agatha always executed her stunts perfectly, what had gone wrong? The entire squad had gone to her side, and the Sports Medicine members rushed to help her. Beatrix spotted Tedros and she held back a smirk.

Next thing she knew, Agatha had stood and looped her arm around Tedros. He was helping her walked as she limped her way back to the team area.

"Bea, are we seeing the same thing?" Hort whispered. Beatrix smirked.

"I think we are." She said, feeling pleased at the sight.

"The boy is doing something right for once…." Rafal muttered, earning laughs from Beatrix and Hort.

When the Sports Medicine club met, they were instructed on how to treat common injuries. Including sprained ankles, which seemed to be what had happen to Agatha tonight.

Tedros had rushed to help her, and when she had put her her arm around him, even though he knew it was because she couldn't walk, he couldn't ignore his racing heart.

She had sat down at the bench by the team area, wincing in pain at her swollen ankle. Tedros and Tarquin, with the help of their mentor, Uma, had come to the conclusion that she had sprained her ankle.

"Tarquin, go get me an ice pack." Tedros ordered, and Tarquin did so. He lifted his gaze and met Agatha's eyes, before asking:

"How much does it hurt when you walk?"

"A lot…I think is already starting to swell…" Agatha said, looking down at her foot in disdain.

Tarquin came back with an ice pack and a cloth. Tedros took it and gently pressed it against Agatha's ankle.

In that instant, Hester came into the team area, obviously looking for Agatha.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked, kneeling in front of Agatha.

"It hurts a lot, but I've had worse." Agatha replied earnestly. Hester frowned.

"It still sucks, though. What happened?" Hester asked.

"I was about to jump off but I didn't land correctly and I guess that's when I sprained it." Agatha explained.

"Hmm, I see…you need to rest a lot; sprained ankles are _so_ bad. I don't want that developing into worse problems. I need to go; I got to reevaluate our course of action for tonight. Get better soon!" Hester said, and she was out of the team area.

"Thanks!" Agatha called after her. "Hey, it's fine, I can hold that to my ankle." Agatha told Tedros, pointing to the ice pack.

Tedros blushed and awkwardly let go of the ice pack.

"Oh, oh I'm sorry, I-I didn't realize…" Tedros sputtered. He stood up, and not knowing what to do, he simply sat next to Agatha on the bench.

"No, don't worry! I just didn't want to inconvenience you." Agatha explained.

"Oh, oh, alright." Tedros smiled nervously, and Agatha giggled in response. He felt heat rise to his cheeks.

How did she have that effect on him by simply giggling? She was so effervescent, even if she had just injured herself. There had always been something about her, but that something always made Tedros doubt himself more.

"Why are you always so nervous around me, Tedros?" Agatha asked suddenly. Tedros was taken aback by the bluntness. He was definitely not ready to answer that. He tried to think of a good, convincing lie, but the sudden question had taken him by surprise.

"I-I…" He looked up and saw Agatha looking at him expectantly. He cleared his throat and continued.

"Is just…I'm always afraid I'll say something stupid, and then you'll make fun of me…and then the entire school will know because, well, you're really popular and stuff…" Tedros admitted. He guessed that was true enough…

 _Or you know, I also have had a crush on you for the past two years or so…_

Agatha raised her eyebrows in surprise. Then laughed.

"I would never do that! Besides, you never say pointless stuff…you have nothing to worry about, really." Agatha smiled assuringly.

Tedros blushed, but he smiled weakly. He looked down at his shoes, unable to glance at Agatha. He was overcome with embarrassment, but also with gratitude. It felt good knowing that Agatha wasn't the type of person to make fun of anyone for silly reasons.

* * *

 **Alright, I was absent for over a month, and I am sorry! The plan was for me to post this about two weeks ago, but I started school, and that got in the way.**

 **That being said, updates will be more sporadic now :(**

 **Please review constructively!**


	8. Dance

Saturday ought to be an eventful day. After all, the Homecoming Dance is always an exciting occasion.

Reena had agreed to come at five thirty at Beatrix's requests. Reena always had the best makeup, so she agreed to do Beatrix's. She had impatiently waited for her to show up

"I still need to do your lipstick and put on blush…I don't think it should take too much time. What shade are you going to use?" Reena asked, holding up two lipsticks. Beatrix opened her eyes, glancing at them.

"The lighter one." Beatrix said, and Reena started outlining her lips. She carefully applied the lipstick on Beatrix's pouty lips. When she finished, she dug through her makeup bag, trying to find the right brush.

"So, how are you holding up about Hort?" Reena asked. Beatrix sighed.

"I knew I should have never told you."

"No! You should have told me earlier! I'm your number 1 girlfriend, this is the kind of talks we should have sometimes! You get to listen to me rant about Nicholas all the time, it's only fair you tell me about Hort." Reena argued.

"…true...I mean, I'm still kind of bummed out, not only because I like him, but because I got used to being asked by him, even if it was only twice…am I making any sense? Ugh, I hate to sound like this, but I guess I can't help it. Boys are stupid sometimes. Is not like Hort even asked another girl." Beatrix ranted, but Reena giggled.

"Is not wrong to feel frustrated, especially in your case. I stand by my argument; Hort is probably into you…and if he's not, is because he's blind and doesn't know what he's missing out." Reena decided. Beatrix smiled.

"Thanks, Reena. But I think he'd rather have me as nerd buddy than as a girlfriend…most people probably would." Beatrix argued.

"Trust me, you're wrong. My work here is finished. Here." Reena handed her a mirror, and Beatrix looked at her reflection. Reena really worked miracles; she had applied pale pink eyeshadow, with some eyeliner and mascara to bring out her eyes. Her cheeks looked rosy and so did her lips.

"Ah! I look amazing!" Beatrix giggled. Reena smiled.

"I'm glad I did my job correctly. I need to head out now; I need to work on my own makeup, but I'll see you at the dance."

The two girls hugged and bid their goodbyes. When Reena left, Beatrix went up to her bedroom and took out her dress: a light pink dress, with a sheer boat neck, covered in silver rhinestones. The skirt had a layer of tulle on top, making it look as delicate as Beatrix wanted.

She put it on, struggling with the zipper and the hook, but she managed. She put on her silver heels, and looked in the mirror. She definitely looked her best, with her hair up in a high ponytail, her curls tamed, and her impeccable dress. She twirled, and admired the movement of her skirt.

Beatrix walked over her nightstand, taking her glasses in her hands. She felt they ruined her look. They looked too…scholarly? She didn't have a word, but they definitely clashed with her dress.

"But my vision is so blurry…" She whispered, voicing her thoughts. She hesitated, but put them down.

"I can manage one night of lousy vision…." She said to herself.

Her parents took pictures of her, soaking in every minute of her elegance, while her little sister wondered at how beautiful she looked. Beatrix giggled.

Rafal eventually showed up at her place, and her parents took an embarrassing amount of pictures.

"Now, be back by ten thirty, give or take fifteen minutes, no more than that." Her dad warns, and Beatrix nods her head.

"I'll bring her safely, no need to worry." Rafal says. They exchange goodbyes, and get into his car.

"So, are you ready to have your first date to a dance?" Beatrix asks, putting on her seatbelt, as Rafal starts driving.

"Yeah…thanks for agreeing to go with me…I'm sorry I didn't really put on a show, or anything; everything is kind of new for me, and I guess I didn't really know how to do it." Rafal apologizes, and Beatrix feels her gaze soften.

"Don't worry about it, I understand. Besides, who else were you going to invite?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought…" Rafal drives in silence for a few minutes, until they arrive to a red stop light. Beatrix happens to see him gripping the wheel a little too tightly.

"Bea, can I ask you a weird question?" Rafal questions. Beatrix raises her eyebrows, but nods.

"How do you feel about Hort not asking you? I know that sounds maybe a little invasive, and definitely sudden, especially coming from me, but I just wanted to know." Beatrix remains quiet for a few seconds, before lamely replying.

"Weird. Just weird. I mean zero offense to you, really, but I guess I grew used to it. Besides, why did you and Tedros force him not to ask me? That was odd." Beatrix admits, and she sees Rafal swallow.

"Well, it was my idea. It's a long story, but it makes sense, I promise! You know I'm highly logical, and I wouldn't do something if I didn't have a good reason." Rafal says, and Beatrix narrows her eyes. What was he up to?

"Go on…"

"As you know, I get to hear a lot of stuff because of my involvement in different school activities. Half of the time, they're very stupid, but Agatha told me something that _definitely_ wasn't stupid…and it indirectly involves you." Beatrix listens, worried. What could be happening that should concern her?

"You know people: they _love_ rumors. I'm sure you have heard people speculate you are dating Hort, right?" Beatrix nods, and Rafal goes on. "Well, Agatha told me some girls in the squad say he just asks you because he pities you, or because he wants 'something in return', whatever that means. They basically think he wastes his time every year, and he should seek someone from a 'higher social tier'." Rafal explains, and Beatrix feels her anger bubbling inside of her.

It is directly at the cheerleaders, but she definitely feels annoyance at Rafal.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Beatrix demands.

"It's a touchy subject! Tedros knows too, but Hort is completely in the dark. Well, he was, I made Tedros tell him before we get there. _But,_ the reasoning behind this is, I knew he wouldn't ask anyone else, and that should shut people up…for now at least." Rafal finishes.

"Or create a whole another rumor that he is done with me…" Beatrix argues. "Look, I understand you wanted to protect my feelings and all, but keeping me in the dark was actually worse." Rafal's gaze softens, but his jaw tightens.

"I'm sorry, and I know that doesn't cover it, but I just didn't want them slandering you even more…see, this is why I mind my business. I need to tell Agatha to not share her cheerleading gossip." Beatrix can't help it, and laughs.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't help, but please do tell me…it would have saved me a lot of curiosity and annoyance. I like knowing what is going on, especially if it involves me." Beatrix explains.

"So are we alright?" Rafal asks.

"Eh,I think I'll be irritated over this for a while, but you can try to make it up to me by buying me a milkshake." Beatrix offers, and Rafal chuckles.

Rafal parks, they get off his car, and walk over to greet Tedros and Hort. They loudly compliment each other, earning glances from people walking by.

When they enter the pizzeria, its dark walls and dull paintings are quickly overlooked; groups of seniors, freshman and juniors from their school are spotted easily, each group larger than the previous one.

Their dinner is full of teasing and laughter, and is the kind of atmosphere they need. Beatrix forgets Rafal's explanation for a while, too focused on their casual banter. But she eventually wonders if Tedros did tell Hort, like Rafal said he would. Beatrix is quick to shrug it off, and they start heading out before she even realizes.

They all drive to school in Rafal's car, seeing as Tedros and Hort were dropped off by their parents. Rafal drives, with Tedros in the front seat, much to Beatrix's irritation.

"Hey, Rafal, do you actually have high expectations for this year?" Hort asks from the backseat.

"I have expectations…that's all I have." Rafal laughs, and so does everyone.

When they arrive to school, tens of people can be seen by the gym; some are being dropped off, some are posing for pictures, and some are waiting for their friends to show up. The sky was a hazy mix of tones: the light piercing through the violet blanket that fell over Gavaldon.

Rafal parks, and they all get down from the car, headed for the gym. When they come in, they notice the unusual brightness from above.

The ceilings were full of lights, creating the illusion that they were stars. There was not a single corner without lighting.

"Wow…" Beatrix breaths, dumbly staring at them.

"I didn't know they gym could be this nice…" Tedros comments, making Hort snigger.

"Yeah…it seems our work was worth it…so, I guess this is when we awkwardly start dancing?" Rafal suggests. He receives shrugs and smiles.

The music loudly blasts, and the lights brightly flash in front of people's eyes as they dance. The four of them knew they were terrible dancers, but they knew no one would care, and they didn't care either.

People go from one place to another, dragging their friends with them, while some people just stand in a corner, trying to make themselves heard over the music. Some people jump up and down, while others get their friend to dance, but it all fades from Beatrix's vision. People become irrelevant, and Beatrix only focuses on her friends as she dances.

Some people from the Council join them, including Reena and Agatha. Beatrix is surprised to see Agatha here, seeing as she had injured herself last night, but she is present, with a short, strapless lilac dress made out of lace, and simple sandals instead of her usual heels.

Beatrix assumes she didn't want to further her injury when she sees a bad bandaging around Agatha's ankle.

She is taken a aback when the black haired girl pulls her into a hug. Beatrix notices Tedros stiffen just a little bit when Agatha does the same.

" _Can't blame him…"_ Beatrix thinks to herself. Agatha and her friends join them for a while, and she feels as if her reality is altered, but in the best of ways. Especially when she takes a picture with Reena _and_ Agatha. She did not see this one coming.

When Tedros checks his phone and sees the time, Beatrix feels as if the first hour had only lasted fifteen minutes, being unable to believe it's 9:14 already.

Her and Rafal go to get a drink, and they stand, watching everyone laughing.

"Hey, I know this is going to sound awkward, but can we not slow dance when they start playing slow songs?" Rafal asks. Beatrix nods, but laughs.

"Wouldn't expect anything more from you." Beatrix says. Rafal chuckles.

"I mean, it's mostly for those annoying couples that can't keep their hands off each other, so we're definitely not that type of people." Rafal awkwardly explains.

"I got you, don't worry." Beatrix says, and they go back to the dancefloor.

Not too long afterwards, the lights are dimmed, and the DJ starts playing soft, romantic ballads. Beatrix notices people leaving the dancefloor, herself included.

"I'll go outside meanwhile. Besides, I need to get away from the noise for a while." Tedros announces, and Rafal follows after him.

Beatrix and Hort are left there, and they just silently watch everyone dance. It'll be at least three songs like this one, much to a lot of people's dismay.

"Hort, this would be the perfect moment for a sarcastic remark." Beatrix says, and Hort laughs.

"It is, but I have nothing." He remains silent for a few seconds, before asking, "Do you want to dance?"

Beatrix faces him, and she raises her eyebrows in curiosity.

"What?"

"I mean, is just the two of us, so I don't know, um…is fine if you don't want to, I was just asking."

"Yeah, yeah, I just meant I was surprised, but yeah sure." Beatrix replies, and she knows that was a mistake. Even if they had gone together to the dance in previous years, they always sat down for the slow songs, because it had always been awkward for them.

Oh, the irony.

They step onto the dancefloor again, and Beatrix wraps her arms around Hort's neck, while his hands wrap around her waist, and they slowly danced to the music. In a way, Beatrix can't believe this is real life, and she wishes to hang onto her own little fantasies of a perfect world where Reena is indeed right about Hort liking her. Unfortunately, reality crushes that fantasy, and Beatrix is reminded that he is merely dancing with her because they had nothing better to do.

Too bad she feels like she is going to burst any second.

When his fingertips brushed her waist, she felt heat rise to her face, and she still feels her face is about to burn. Meanwhile, Hort seems calm like always. Especially when their eyes meet and he grins at her. She returns the gesture quickly, wishing she could feel as lighthearted as him.

"So, are you having fun?" Hort asks.

"Yeah, duh. Are you?" He nods.

"It's ironic how we didn't come together, but we're here, slow dancing. I wonder if we could fool people." Hort thinks, and Beatrix giggles.

"People around us are not the brightest; there could be a chance." Beatrix offers, but she sees Hort's demeanor slightly darken.

"Especially some cheerleaders…" Beatrix hears him mutter, and she instantly knows what he means.

Just as Rafal said, Tedros told Hort.

"I take it you know..." Beatrix whispers, biting her lip nervously. Hort nods.

"Yeah…even though I should've found out a while ago. And so did you…" Hort says, and Beatrix nods in agreement.

"Look, I'm used to people saying some…unkind words about me, mostly because is always the same people…I'm used to them talking behind my back and questioning whether or not we're dating or not, but what really put me on edge was being kept in the dark, and I'm sure you can agree with that." Beatrix says.

"I do, and I made sure Tedros knew that…but you shouldn't be too concerned with gilrs gossiping about you, Bea. You're worth more than just being the subject of gossip stemming from jealousy." Hort states, staring fixedly into her eyes. Beatrix's gaze gives up, and shifts past him.

"I-I, well yeah, but is not like I can fix their issues, besides, they I can't convince them that you're simply not interested." Beatrix says.

"But you can see that is not _right_." Hort interrupts her, but apologizes for how abruptly it sounded.

"It just seems like you don't care because you don't realize your own worth, and I don't know, it bothers me because you deserve better than a bunch of stuck up girls gossiping about you every time there's a dance. You only deserve goodness and kind people around you…not jealousy and rumors." Hort explains. Beatrix feels her gaze soften, and her eyes shift back to him, but she remains quiet.

"…that was nice of you to say…" Beatrix inaudibly says. Hort doesn't hear it, so she is forced to repeat herself. Hort smiles at her, and she can feel heat rise to her already pink cheeks.

"Hey, I know is not the best place to get touchy-feely, but…you're too good for this world." Hort says, and Beatrix laughs.

"You're one to talk."

* * *

"So, that's why you hate that place?" Tedros asks, as Rafal finishes telling an embarrassing childhood story.

They were still by the gym's doors; the evening was chilly, without a cloud in sight in the sky. It was much preferred to the gym's warm feeling.

"Yeah, but Rhian loves it…I don't know what's wrong with her…" Rafal ponders out loud, and Tedros chuckles.

"Must run in the family." Tedros grins, while Rafal glares at him.

When he was about to open his mouth, they heard footsteps approach as the doors swung open. The two boys turned their heads, not really knowing what to expect, but it turned out to be a friendly face.

Agatha was approaching them.

By herself.

" _That's a rare sighting…"_ Tedros cynically thought. Her crowd of friends always surrounded her.

She waves at them, and Rafal waves back.

"Hey, why are you guys out here?" She asks, coming in the middle of them.

"We could ask you the same," Rafal says. Agatha sighs.

"A couple of boys asked me to dance, and after the second one, it got awkward. I decided to leave…" Agatha sheepishly explains.

"Well, I was about to go back in, but please, don't feel the need to follow me. You two stay here for as long as you need to." Rafal announces, and Tedros holds back the urge to roll his eyes.

Rafal means well, but geez, he is so obvious sometimes.

"So, why are you out here?" Agatha asks him.

"Oh, you know, just wanted to get away from the noise…it gets to me and I just come out here for a few minutes." Tedros replies, looking straight ahead. "So how's your ankle doing?"

"It was really swollen in the morning, so I basically stayed in bed so it would go down a little…I think it worked. My mom did the bandaging; she's not really good with bandages." Agatha says sheepishly, and Tedros chuckles.

"Yeah…at least she tried to be helpful." Tedros says, and Agatha smiles.

"So, did you have a date?" Agatha inquires. Tedros shakes his head.

"No…too shy to ask anyone…" Tedros says, but Agatha laughs.

"Really? I'm sure most girls would accept…except the mean ones on the squad." Agatha assures. Tedros raises his eyebrows.

"Even girls that turn down most guys?" Tedros asks, immediately regretting it. He didn't want her to know he meant her.

Not yet at least.

"Well, I'm sure if they know you well enough they would…but that's just my opinion, seeing as that's what I do." Agatha answered earnestly.

"So, none of your friends ever ask you?" Tedros asks. Agatha shrugs.

"Um, they used to. I don't want one of my friends to ask me just for the sake of asking me, which is why I always just come with my friend group." Agatha shrugs again. It seemed like a touchy issue for some reason, and Tedros didn't want to pry and accidentally offend her.

'But back to you, don't let fear stop you. That girl, whoever she is, would be very flattered by your proposal."

Tedros shyly smiled, and tentatively looked over at Agatha, who smiled back at him.

"I think I'm going to go back inside...are you staying out here?" Tedros asks. Agatha looks around before answering.

"I'll go with you. I think the slow songs should be over by now."

They walked back inside, while Tedros mentally congratulated himself for not making a fool of himself. However, he silently wondered if Agatha would even accept a Prom proposal. Just the thought of it gave him anxiety.

He decided to busy himself with images of Rafal asking him about Agatha. It seemed him and Hort had ganged up on Tedros to get him with Agatha as soon as possible.

* * *

 **So this is the longest chapter so far! I know it was a lot at once, but I wanted to fit it in this chapter. Also, who's read QFG? I finished it on Friday: INTENSE, MAN.**

 **I just realized my Homecoming week starts tomorrow so that's pretty ironic, lol. I didn't mean to take so long updating, but it's been a wild couple of weeks...I live in Florida so we're just recovering from Irma...**

 **Please Review! I love hearing your opinions!**


	9. Strenous

The week after homecoming is always hard: teachers double the amount of work assigned, the fun atmosphere fades away, and the normalcy feels more like monotony.

Rafal could attest to it, and he was sure most students would agree with him. Except maybe the rejects that act too cool for Homecoming festivities.

As he sits in his AP Chemistry class, he is mentally keeping tallies of all he has due: a test in here, a French project, an essay for English, a test in Pre-Calculus, and a quiz in Physics.

And that is only _tomorrow_ , not counting any extracurricular activity.

He taps his pencil, trying to focus on whatever rant he needs to listen about electrons. He had paid attention most of the class, but it seemed now he was in a completely different subject area after zoning out for a few minutes. Maybe is the fact the classroom is always dimly lit, or maybe is the somber color of dark grey on the walls, maybe even Rafal's sleep deprivation, but he has had a hard time focusing today.

Rafal glances over where Tedros sits. The golden-haired boy looks focused as he quickly scribbles notes on his paper. Rafal admires his focus, while he realizes he really should keep taking notes, since he doesn't know what is going on.

He feels annoyed. Rafal's mind wanders in every class except AP Chemistry. It's one of the few that always has his interest because it is so hard, that not paying attention is idiotic.

Castor drones on, and Rafal keeps listening, while his eyes scan the classroom. Reena, his lab partner, has her eyes on her paper, Tedros looks at Castor as he speaks, and Mona attentively looks at her nails. As he continues looking around, Castor's monotone blurs and is only a background noise.

He hadn't felt so bored since the lesson in cellular communications last year in AP Biology…

Rafal silently wished Castor would not call on him for the rest of the class, because he had no idea what was going on.

* * *

When the bell rang and signified the end of the day, the foursome met in their usual spot, as they stressed over their ever-growing pile of assignments.

"Ugh, Dovey assigned us these terrible short stories and they're all due _tomorrow_." Beatrix loudly complained.

"You think you have it bad? I have a test in Physics and I don't even know what I'm doing! Science really likes to fuck my life." Hort argued. Rafal slammed the door to his locker.

"Try two tests, a project, a quiz and an essay due on the same day." Rafal cynically offered. The three of them winced in pain.

"Wait, project in what class?" Tedros asks, raising his eyebrows.

"French; I'm almost done with it, but I still need to add some details." Rafal explains.

"Oh, I was worried for a second." Tedros chuckles.

"Wait, do you guys have like, really similar schedules or something?" Hort asks.

"Yeah, we pretty much have the same classes, except for our language, so I tend to panic a little when he talks about a project I don't know about, but is usually for French class." Tedros sheepishly explains.

"It happens to me too…is really the only problem of having Tedros in so many of my classes." Rafal teases

"I bet I'm number one on your lists of annoyances." Tedros jokes.

"Hmm, wrong blonde." Rafal pats his shoulder, and hears as Beatrix giggles.

"Do you have to suffer tonight? I mean, more than usual…" Beatrix inquires, moving a lock of curly hair out of her face. Rafal nods somberly.

"Man…is she still being difficult?" Hort asks. Rafal nods again.

"I don't think she is ever easy...not like that!" Beatrix says, as Hort obnoxiously laughs. Even Rafal cracks a smile.

"You are onto something, Bea. Well, I got to go! I'll see you guys tomorrow…and Tedros, send me a summary of today's Chemistry lecture; I want to be sure I understood what was going on." Rafal calls as he walks away. Tedros gives him a thumbs up.

He walks towards the school's student parking lot, and surprisingly, Sophie is already there. She uninterestedly looks at her phone, while she has her bag hanging from one shoulder. Rafal walks up to where she is, and she doesn't look up until he is only a few feet away.

"We can't go to my house today." Sophie announces. Rafal frowns.

"Why not?" He asks. Sophie looks up at him.

"My mom is here and I don't want her knowing my tutor is…" She gestures for a few seconds, before saying: "…you…." Rafal rolls his eyes at her comment.

"God forbid you hang out with someone decent…" He retorts.

"Exactly. So, let's just go to your place." Sophie shrugs and heads to his car. He quickly follows her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop right there." Sophie stops in her tracks and exasperatedly demands:

"What?"

"You can't just unilaterally make that decision! It's my place, not yours!" Rafal cries.

"Well, yeah, but…I'm doing you a favor, like…you can just drive me there and I'll call my mom, asking her to pick me up." Sophie replies, rolling her eyes.

"How long have you known we can't meet at your place?" Rafal narrows his eyes, as he asks.

"Like…about a week." Sophie calmly replies.

Rafal spent the next five minutes ranting on how inconsiderate she was, and the audacity she had of not telling him, and her thinking she could just make every decision without his opinion about it. . Sophie didn't even bother to pay attention to his angry rant, and loudly sighed every so often.

"Oh my God, we literally have like four classes together, and you couldn't talk to me in any of them? _Really?_ " Rafal demands. Sophie rolls her eyes again, but her lips curl into a smirk.

"Annoyed, I see. Just like I planned. Now, let's go; I need to know this before Thursday." Sophie started walking again, and Rafal exhaled loudly.

He wonders if her sole mission in life it's pissing off people. At the moment, she is definitely succeeding.

The drive to his house consists of Sophie making snarky comments, and Rafal completely deflecting them. He definitely will not be over his anger for a while. Sophie can _really_ ruin someone's mood in less than five minutes.

When he parks in his driveway, Sophie looks around, and he can see marvel in her green eyes, something he had never seen in her. He hears her whistle.

"Nice place…you could give me a run for my money…almost literally…" Sophie says, as she walks up to the door. Rafal is taken aback by what seems a compliment, but just takes out his key out of his bag as they walk in.

He greets their housekeeper, Elise, and they go upstairs to his study room. Rafal sees Sophie curiously looking around, her bold red jacket and black jeans look out of place in his calm, light blue room. To be fair, she stands out pretty much everywhere.

"I didn't know you had a twin." Sophie points out, referring to the picture hanging on his wall. Rafal turns around and faces her.

"Yeah, she obviously doesn't go here." He says curtly. Sophie snorts as she says:

"I can definitely tell who the best looking twin is." She grins evilly and he simply blinks at her, as he goes back to taking out his textbooks from his bag. He hopes she drops the subject of Rhian, since it's really none of her business. He hears Sophie do the same thing as him, and lays her French textbook on his desk.

"Did you finish the project due tomorrow?" Sophie asks him. Rafal shakes his head.

"I'll do that after you leave. Now, let's get down to business."

They follow the usual routine: Rafal goes over the concepts, Sophie thinks she's got it, and then realizes she doesn't. Except today, she is more focused on studying than getting on his nerves. Rafal sees her weirdly dedicated to the class's material. He can't complain, as it makes his job easier. However, it is still unusual in her….she must really be concerned about her grade.

" _Maybe she fulfilled her quota of annoying me by not telling me about changing our meeting place."_ Rafal thinks. He decides it makes more sense.

As the hour passes, Sophie starts packing her belongings, but as she waits for her mother to get here, she goes over the vocabulary for their quiz on Thursday.

"So…what is your grade in the class?" Rafal asks. Sophie looks up and answers:

"Um…I think like an 83, not sure though, may be an 84." She then goes back to studying.

"Hey, please, please, have the decency of telling me where we are meeting…I like knowing where I'm going." Rafal requests. Sophie rolls her eyes for the millionth time today.

"I don't see why I'd have to…is not like I asked you to go out of town." Sophie glares. Rafal huffs.

"Again, I like knowing where to go…did you seriously do it just to piss me off?" Rafal inquires. Sophie holds his gaze as she smirks.

"Yes."

"Why?" Rafal demands. He stands in his doorstep, arms crossed. Sophie gets up from his chair and approaches him, not dropping his gaze once.

"Because…I like pissing you off, just like _you_ piss me off all the time…look at that, my mom is here…see you Thursday." Sophie pats his shoulder in her little obnoxious manner as she heads out of his room, leaving Rafal feeling both angry _and_ confused.

" _Are you serious?!"_ Rafal irritably demands from the top of his stairwell, and he hears Sophie cackle as she leaves.

The platinum-haired boy rubs his temples as he sighs exasperatedly.

How was he stuck with someone so unreasonable?

* * *

Later that evening, Hort asked the three of them if they could all have a last minute study session for their physics quiz tomorrow. Although Rafal wasn't too worried about it, he decided to join their call, because he knew they were just going to be messing around for most of the time.

He impatiently tried to join the call three times, until his computer finally let him in. Beatrix and Tedros were going over what sounded like momentum by the time Rafal finally joined in.

"Oh, you're finally here!" Beatrix exclaimed. From the looks of it, she was sitting in her room, wearing an oversized white t-shirt with little golden stars on it.

"Yeah, sorry. My connection has been on and off…it's been a long day." Rafal said, as he yawned.

"I feel you; it seems like today is never going to end…it's only 8:45, actually…dang, I even took a nap and it's still early…" Hort pointed out. He sat in a room with bright green walls, while he wore a Justice League t-shirt, and his hair looked messy.

"You can afford taking a nap?" Tedros asked. He had taken off his glasses, and he just wore a plain white shirt.

"I probably shouldn't have, but I fell asleep halfway through my Algebra homework…" Hort explains.

"Are we actually helping you or are we just going to talk for over an hour?" Beatrix asks Hort. He shrugs.

"I mean, you two went over what I didn't really understand, so I'm done." Hort answers.

"Are you just procrastinating on Algebra homework?" Rafal inquires, with a grin on his face. Hort looks away.

"That's a definite 'yes'." Tedros concludes. "So Rafal, how did it go today?"

Rafal sighs as he spins in his chair. He briefly explains the little incident, and thankfully, they all responded irritably.

"That's such a Sophie move, just saying…" Beatrix points out.

"It is. See, I don't even know why or how I pissed her off so much that she feels the need to get back at me." Rafal says.

"How about telling on her spray painting the lockers?" Beatrix suggests.

"Or telling on sabotaging the powderpuff cheerleading last year?" Tedros offers.

"Just being an overachiever and being overly perfect at pretty much every area of life?" Hort points out. The three of them look at him through the camera.

"What? She doesn't seem too loving of order and perfection, if you ask me." Hort defends himself. He earns agreeing nods from Beatrix and Tedros.

"Okay, well, point taken. I guess not everyone can tutor the girl of his dreams like Tedros over here. Some folks like me need to get a cheap imitation of a juvenile criminal." Rafal thinks aloud.

"My case is different, though. You sort of made it happen for me…I owe you one, man." Tedros admitted. Rafal cracks a smile.

"Anything for you two to get together." Rafal says.

"After all, you did promise you'd ask her to prom, so you kind of need to work your way up." Hort points out.

"Yeah…see, it's so unfair, because you get something as simple as not going with Beatrix to any dance, but I need to ask out my crush. The degree of difficulty is rather different." Tedros complains.

"Hey, at least I _have_ a challenge. Bea still has nothing!" Hort points out. Beatrix immediately blushes.

"Well…I just don't know what to do! Maybe involve myself in school more by joining clubs, but I don't know….Tedros did say he wanted something more from this year…and I do too."

Suddenly, a silence fell upon them. The atmosphere felt a little more tense than it should, as if the truth hung on the air now, and it made them wince at their conformity.

"…see, I want something else too, I-I just can't pinpoint what it is." Rafal admits. It had been bothering him for days now; a feeling that something is missing but he doesn't know what it is.

"I think you just need a break from schoolwork. All of you. I understand that you have like 700 things to do every day, but take a break during the weekends. It's not all about the GPA. The point of our challenges should be to actually enjoy school. To see it beyond the homework and all that, but we're all slaves to the constant demand from it…especially you three." Hort speaks, and the three blonds realize he is right.

"You are right…we need a break. I mean, yeah, we go out and hang out, but we still talk about how stressed we are…if you think about it, we need to take at least a day away from school talk. Away from everything in general." Tedros verbalizes, earning nods of agreement.

"Can we just run away and lay down in a field of flowers on the countryside like in movies?" Beatrix suggests. They laugh at it.

"I wish…I'd say we go to the lake, but it's already freezing cold outside." Rafal says.

"Lets just have a hangout at Rafal's place, but different. We can order pizza and all that, but we play games, maybe?" Hort suggests.

"I like how you assumed my house was instantly available." Rafal snorts.

"What? Is it not?" Tedros inquires.

"No, of course it is. I mean, I'm down, but I don't know what we could play…as long as we forget about work, I'll be fine." Rafal offers.

"Hey, I hate to make it about me again, but maybe I found something for my 'challenge'." Beatrix announces, and the three boys listen attentively.

Rafal wonders what it could be. Beatrix seems like the wildcard of the bunch. He just doesn't know what she could propose.

"So, um…I've kind of been thinking maybe I should try and find more girlfriends. I mean, don't get me wrong, you guys are great, but sometimes…I'd like to have a group of girls to talk to about, I don't know…stuff I'd feel weird talking to you guys about." Beatrix explains.

"Like boy drama?" Hort questions.

"Hort, she probably refers to other stuff…or do you have boy drama? Because is someone were to hurt you, that jerk would be dead." Tedros assures.

"Oh of course I don't! But I guess that qualifies? Anyways, that's my idea. But it's very sweet you feel that way, Tedros." Beatrix delicately blushes.

"Bea, we all feel that way about you. You're like, a princess." Hort says, and Beatrix's blush intensifies. Rafal chuckles.

"Yeah, That sucker would be dead…that's what our friendship is about." Rafal assures.

"Thank you guys…I'm just letting you know now that the feeling is mutual." Beatrix affirms warmly.

Rafal feels refreshed by this conversation they had tonight. Every so often, he needs talks like these. He is so thankful for his friends, and these little conversations are what make their relationship so important. They're like a strong foundation in his web of stress that is his life.

They continued to talk for nearly one more hour. Rafal needed to leave first because he could feel his stress build up as he continued to ignore his schoolwork.

He was looking forward to the soonest day off from school they would had.

* * *

 **Before I go on, I realize I owe you an apology for taking nearly two months to update.**

 **In all honesty, I forgot to do so for like three weeks, and then author's block came. Not including the fact I never have time to write, except during the weekends. I'm a sophmore in high school, and I feel this year has been super rough so far...not only academically, but socially, seeing as I had a recent fall out with some friends...but hey, my thanksgiving break starts on Wednesday, so I'll use those days to come up with a new chapter!**

 **Now, onto this chapter:**

 **Bea finally has a challenge! It took a while, but she found something. What did you guys think of it? I want to hear your thoughts, so leave a review! I want to thank you for still reviewing during my absence. If you want updates on how the next chapter is coming me on Tumblr baetrixv.**

 **Phew! That is all!**

 **Until next time!**


	10. Love Talks

Even though their conversation last night had been great, none of the four teenagers had time to follow their own recommendations. Tedros had barely been able to sleep; he thought about AP Chemistry, then about his Pre-calc, then about Physics. Math and science, for the first time, seemed to be antagonists rather than his friends. He was usually just a little nervous about tests in chemistry, but this time, his nervousness was a monster, slowly eating him alive.

With assignments and assessments piling up, there was no rest or relaxation for anyone. Even lunchtime consisted of Tedros nervously tapping his foot, as he looked over his AP Chemistry notes, while Rafal worked on a problem for the same class. The platinum-haired teen rubbed his temples, while Tedros sighed in defeat.

"Don't you guys need a break?" Hort asked, his eyebrows furrowed in concern at their sight.

"Can't; our test is next period. I'm going to _fail_." Tedros said. Hort rolled his eyes.

"No you won't; you have been studying like a dog." Hort observed, while he loudly opened a pack of potato chips.

"You don't get it, you can study like a dog and still get a 70." Rafal exclaimed. Beatrix agreed.

"After my experience with AP Bio last year, I can confirm that, even if I don't take chem." Beatrix pointed out.

"I don't get science people, I guess." Hort shrugged. "You guys will be fine, like you always are."

Tedros wished he could have the same amount of self-confidence as Hort has in him and Rafal. In his _Iron Maiden_ t-shirt and black jacket, Hort was positively the coolest-looking person at their table. He looked kinda funny next to Beatrix, who was clad in a baby pink turtleneck sweater, and had her hair in a messy high bun, currently held in place by a pen.

As if Hort had heard his thoughts, he curiously inspected Beatrix's hair, and pointed out:

"Why do you have a pen in your hair?" Hort looked quizzically at it.

"I didn't have a hair tie, but I wanted my hair out of my face." Beatrix explained, but Hort frowned.

"But your hair is still in your face." Hort dumbly said. Beatrix rolled her eyes.

"Yeah well, it always is, but I didn't…never mind." Hort tried to pry the pen out if her hair, but Beatrix realized it, and they struggled over it for a few seconds, until Hort took it out. Rafal and Tedros shared a confused look, whether it was as to what their friends were doing, or as to why they were friends with them, Tedros didn't know.

"Why did you do that, _oh my God._ " Beatrix loudly complained, getting a few weird looks from people around them, while Hort cracked up.

"Do you mind? You're making a scene." Rafal chastised, putting his textbook in his bag.

"It was his fault." Beatrix childishly said, but she shared a teasing grin with Hort.

"It's ridiculous to keep a pen in your hair; I'm sparing you of social humiliation." Hort lied, and Beatrix giggled, tossing a lock of her out of her face.

Tedros noticed Rafal looking at them curiously, as if he was noticing something he hadn't seen before. He wondered why he was doing that, but Rafal shook his head and checked his phone instead.

"Well, I got to go; I'm starting a new project for Sader and it's going to take me forever to finish. He allowed me go in earlier, so I'm going to take advantage of that." Hort said, standing up.

"DO you mind if I just come along?" Beatrix asked, then looked over at Tedros and Rafal, "I know you guys are busy studying, and I don't feel like disrupting you."

"It's fine, I don't care." Tedros said, shrugging.

"Yeah, sure. Sader loves me, I'm sure he won't mind." Hort grinned, and Beatrix smiled back at him. They got up, and left the cafeteria. Tedros turned to Rafal, who was looking at them curiously, as they exited the cafeteria.

"Hey, are you okay? Why are you looking at them funny?" Tedros asked, frowning. Rafal shook his head.

"What are you talking about? I'm just looking at them as I always do." Tedros gave him his best "don't-hit-me-with-that-BS-" face. Rafal sighed.

"If I tell you, you're going to think I've gone mad." Rafal assured.

"Try me." Tedros pressed. Rafal hesitated, looking up, down and everywhere but him.

"I think Hort and Beatrix have a thing for one another…sort of, it looks like it at least." Rafal said. Tedros raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Really? I just always thought they were just really good friends…why do you think that?" Tedros was perplexed, but he wasn't sure if he should trust Rafal's judgement. His fiend might be brilliant, but this was far from his area of expertise.

"Well, this is mostly Agatha's fault, who repeatedly asked me if they were secretly dating, and I vehemently denied it…but I'm starting to see what she sees. I mean, he always asks her to dances, she laughs at all his dumb jokes, and I'm pretty sure he was, subtly, hitting on her the other day." Rafal explained. Tedros tried to process it.

Beatrix did talk a lot about Hort. Much more than she did about Rafal or himself. However, he couldn't base his suspicions on that.

"I mean…I guess? I don't know man, relationships are not my forte, and they are not yours either." Tedros said.

"No, you're definitely right…but they are Agatha's forte. She set up Reena and Nicholas, and now they're already dating! All just because she 'saw a spark there'. I feel…strange, admitting it, but Agatha might be onto something. " Rafal threw his hands in the air, and Tedros frowned even more.

"But…do you think they could actually, be more than friends? Because that's a big risk right there. Do you think they're currently dating?" Tedros offered. Rafal shrugged.

"I don't know, I don't think they are. I love Hort and all, but he can be a little bit of a loudmouth when it comes to going out with someone; I don't think he'd keep a secret like that from us." Rafal explained.

"And Bea doesn't keep a secret when she's too excited over it…yeah, they're definitely not more than friends." Tedros concluded.

"I mean, I'm not saying Agatha is always right about romantic issues, but she does know a tad more about it than we do. But before we jump to conclusions, let's just pretend this talk didn't happen." Rafal offered.

"I like that idea, but I'm probably going to be thinking about it for a while. It's just kind of hard to wrap my head around the possibility of them…dating, you know?" Tedros said, and Rafal nodded his head.

"Yeah, I know. Agatha would ask me, and I would scoff at the idea, but the girl is convincing. Look, maybe I'm just meddling in people's love life to make up for my lack of one." Rafal told. Tedros grinned.

"Are you admitting you want a girlfriend and that you are actually capable of romantic feelings?" Tedros teased. Rafal glared at him, but his gaze softened.

"Maybe. There's just no one I like. It's nice to dream, though." Rafal joked. Tedros couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Your day will come…maybe before mine." Tedros teased.

"Hey, I'm willing to delay my thing if it means you getting with Agatha. Besides, all this mushy talk will distract me from gases and all the junk I need to know for next period." Rafal said. Tedros laughed again.

"I'm so screwed is not even funny. I just don't know if I mean in love or in chemistry." Rafal cryptically announced.

For once, Tedros agreed with his cynicism.

Even after feeling as if he failed his test, Tedros had one consolation: he had his tutoring session with Agatha at the end of the day.

They met at their usual spot at the library. Agatha seemed to do better with reflections and refractions than with anything else so far. As she sat in her seat, diligently trying a problem, Tedros couldn't help but admire how cute she was. With her black and white, babydoll top, and her black skinny jeans, she looked like a model.

He blushed, for he felt like an idiot. His gaze flew somewhere else, while he heard Agatha's earrings clatter as she worked. His thoughts suddenly went back to his conversation with Rafal. Tedros had the sudden urge to ask Agatha about it, but he didn't want to weird her out with the suddenness of his question.

"Could you check if those are right?" Agatha asked, sliding him her notebook. Tedros glanced at them, trying to push his thoughts out his head.

"Yeah, I think that's right." Tedros said dismissively, sliding back her notebook. Agatha frowned.

"You looked at those for like, 5 seconds. Are you alright? You usually make sure they're right…twice." Agatha observed. Tedros sighed.

"Too much on my mind, sorry. I just took a test and I think I failed it." Tedros explained. Agatha frowned.

"I'm sorry. But, I'm sure you'll be fine, and even if you didn't do as you wanted, there's always next time." Agatha said, laying her hand on top of his. Tedros flinched at the sudden constant, and Agatha promptly put her hand down.

"It's fine..." Tedros sighed. Without thinking, he voiced what was really gnawing at him.

"Can I ask you something? And before I do, I blame Rafal wholeheartedly on this for telling me." Tedros threw his hands up in defeat, and Agatha laughed, but nodded.

"Do you think Hort and Beatrix have a thing for each other?" Tedros asked. Agatha's face fell when he asked, but instantly turned fifty shades of red.

"He was not supposed to say I said that! I told him like twenty times! Rafal is going to die when I see him." Agatha sputtered. She regained composure, and said "But yeah, I think they do. I'm only admitting I said that because I know I can trust you."

"I'm sorry I'm so…over the place today, I'm being a terrible tutor, but, I guess I never even imagined those two dating, or even crushing on each other. I also feel guilty for talking about them behind their backs so…it's complicated. But is not like I'd be against it happening, is just…not something I ever thought about." Tedros sighed again.

"You really never saw it coming?" Agatha asked, "I mean, one day I was talking with Beatrix and Hort came over. I felt like I was third wheeling, even if we were just standing in the halls. I awkwardly left, and they didn't even notice."

"Huh, I guess I'm blind to these things." Tedros said, and Agatha chuckled.

"It's no big deal, I mean, I personally think they'd be adorable, but is really not my place. Besides, as long as you can notice if someone likes _you_ , you're fine." Agatha shrugged, and Tedros looked around awkwardly. He could feel his heartbeat in his ribcage.

"I definitely cannot do that." Tedros admitted. Agatha chuckled again. Her dark brown eyes met his, and he squirmed under her gaze. He thought he was getting used to her, but a simple gaze could completely disarm him.

"Do you wanna know?" Agatha asked. Tedros sputtered, fiddling with his sleeve.

"Shouldn't I be the one helping you?" Tedros squeaked. Agatha waved him off.

"It's fine; I have too much on my mind too. Besides, it's not like I bite." Agatha teased. Tedros was confused as to why she was so eager to tell him when a girl likes him, but he wasn't about to protest either.

"A big one it's if they really try to get close to you, even if it's the smallest touch, it probably means something. But don't be that guy that thinks every girl is into him just because of that." Agatha said.

"Trust me, I'm not that guy." Tedros said, and Agatha giggled.

"Another big thing is like, general nervousness. That includes playing with their hair, stuttering, or looking away from your eyes. That gives away a lot of people, especially if they're not the flirty type." Agatha said, and she flipped her hair.

"Are you the flirty type?" Tedros absentmindedly asked. He immediately regretted it, but Agatha didn't seemed to mind.

"I mean, I don't think so, personally." She answered, but frowned "Do you think I am?"

"I-I, I mean how would I know? Is not like I've ever seen you flirt with anyone, much less with me out of all people." Tedros laughed nervously. He also regretted saying that.

 _Damn it, Tedros. Get it together!_

"You'd be surprised." Agatha winked at him, and he felt his face was going to burn. "Anyways, I need to go. I told Hester I'd only be half hour late to practice, and I'm almost 45 minutes late." Agatha stood up, grabbed her belongings, but stopped in her tracks.

"Oh, and Tedros?"

"Yes?"

"If you ever need dating advice, don't hesitate to tell me. It'd be only fair if I helped you as you have." Agatha offered.

"I don't think I even have the courage for that." Tedros sputtered, smiling nervously. Agatha laughed, with that airy laugh she had that was so adorable.

"You should; I can think of some girls that'd like for you to have some. Okay, I _really_ need to go. Bye!" Agatha dashed out of the door, leaving a very flustered Tedros behind.

Was she coming onto him?

 **So…here is my update after two months. It's been an eventful two months, between school and some drama with people. I lost some motivation along the way, but I've been regaining it.**

 **What did you think? It's a chapter pretty heavy on matters of the heart, I guess, but that constitutes a big chunk of the plot, so yeah…also I've been in a pretty romantic mood lately, I don't know why.**

 **Also, quick question: do any of my readers speak Spanish? It's because I've been working on a wattpad story, and I've been trying to get some exposure.**

 **Leave a review! They keep me going, even after months-long absences**


	11. Slip Ups

"She was definitely hitting on you." Hort assured Tedros. The blonde blushed.

Hort had agreed to take Tedros home after he had finished his tutoring session, but they had decided to stop for milkshakes. Now, as they sat inside the retro parlor, Tedros had told Hort about Agatha's comments, mostly to "verify he wasn't being a lovesick idiot", as Tedros had put it.

"Really?" Tedros asked in disbelief. Hort nodded while sipping from his cup.

"Yeah. Seriously man, we're all telling you she likes you. You should listen to us."

Tedros remained silent and sipped from his own cup. At this point, Hort wondered how Agatha hadn't asked _him_.

"I don't know how you have the confidence to ask out girls; I literally feel nervous talking to Reena about, I don't know, our chemistry test." Tedros confessed. Hort grinned.

"I guess experience, and understanding that if they turn me down, it's probably better. Besides, some girls make me more nervous than others. Like, when Sophie asked me a question in History class once, I literally took five solid seconds to reply." Hort admitted. Hort smiled.

"I think that's just more intimidation than nervousness." Tedros offered. Hort shrugged.

"Yeah…she scares me. She's never said anything too mean or threatened me, but I feel like she would break my jaw if I walked too closely behind her." Hort laughed.

"I can't blame you. She was my lab partner once, and I could feel her unforgiving eyes as I added too much sucrose to our bags." Tedros commented.

"Oh I remember that. You were freaking out because you had no idea how you were going to work with her…anyways, what are you doing over break?" Hort asked.

November was coming to a close, and that meant one thing: a three-day break from school, thanks to Thanksgiving.

"Probably catch up with the latest New Teen Titans; I have fallen behind but the long weekend will help me fix that. How about you?"

"Oh man! I should read those, I've been meaning to but I got sidetracked because Marvel releases something new every week…DC really needs to step it up…but whatever, I'm basically staying at home most of the week. It'll be dad and I…and his fifteen friends., as per usual." Hort answered, shrugging. For a few years, his dad worked as a tattoo artist, and his coworkers eventually became his friends…that eventually formed a motorcycle gang and became a quirky family.

"Yeah, pretty sure I'll go to my mom's and have the usual awkward dinner." Tedros swallowed. Hort cringed . Ever since his parents' divorce, his mom always asked him and his dad to come over, but is always awkward seeing his dad and Lancelot interact.

"Hey, at least you get Thanksgiving dinner. My dad and I just buy random crap at Costco and try to make casseroles. We're lucky Hook still invites us to his place …" Hort winced, Tedros chuckled.

"I wonder what Rafal is doing. Is his dad even going to show up?" Tedros questioned.

"I hope so. You know, it'd be cool if Rhian came over, like she did a few years ago. Besides, Rafal feels way happier with her around." Hort answered. Rhian happens to be Rafal's twin sister that lives with their mom. At this point, she's more French than American, but she comes over during the summer and other holidays.

"Yeah…but I guess skipping school is an issue for her. You know what? We should have a hangout over break, just the three of us. I mean, Beatrix will probably be doing her own thing like she does around this time, so it'd be nice." Tedros suggested. Hort perked up.

"Yeah! You're right. Should we offer one of our places? I feel really embarrassed about always inviting ourselves over to his house." Hort confessed.

"You mean his mansion?" Tedros snorted. "I mean, I get that, but is closer to being a mansion…but I can see if my old man will let me have you guys over. He says he likes it when I invite people over, it shows him that I'm 'not missing out'" Hort laughed.

"I love good ol' Arthur…anyways, I'll tell Rafal later. He's probably busy trying not to kill Sophie." Hort thought out loud.

"He probably is…." Tedros agreed.

"Are you ready to go?" Hort asked. Tedros nodded.

For Rafal, tutoring Sophie sometimes consisted of her stalling, while sometimes, she did everything in less than five minutes to quickly get rid of him.

But today, she was in more of a hurry than usual. While Rafal briefly explained the homework, she impatiently tapped her foot and nodded absentmindedly. She raced through her homework, and every two minutes or so, she would check the time on her phone. But most importantly, she was quiet, unless she absolutely needed to speak.

Rafal found this unusual in her. Sophie could literally spend ten minutes stalling just by being an obnoxious loudmouth, but today, she seemed out of wits, even if every single exercise she did was right, she lacked focus.

As she sat in front of Rafal, with her hair falling on her face and her eyebrows furrowed, Rafal dared to ask her:

"Hey, are you okay? I know is not my place to…have regular decency bu—

"I'm fine!" She snapped. Rafal frowned. Her nails were clicking against her granite counter as she tapped her foot against her chair. Her fidgeting was making Rafal anxious.

"You can stop if you want to I mean, you seem really… _jittery,_ today." Rafal observed. Her head snapped upwards and faced him. Rafal swallowed, knowing he had made a mistake.

"Well, maybe is because I have a French test tomorrow, and I have to read the chapters for English, and I have to start the project for that class too, and on top off all my other homework, I failed that chemistry test today, so yeah, maybe I _am_ a little… _jittery_." Sophie snapped. Rafal averted his gaze.

"But what would you know? You probably are on top of all that, because you're Rafal Blackburn, and—"

"Sophie." Rafal interrupted, a little more firmly this time. Sophie dropped her pencil and looked at him, then looked away. For once, Rafal's gaze softened on her.

"I'm not on top of everything. My physics grade dropped three points after the quiz yesterday, I'm not even reading the book for English, which is probably why I barely got an 86 the other day, and I haven't started the project either. And I also feel like I failed today's chem test. Look, my grades are all dropping, and I'm literally freaking out, yeah but…I need a break sometimes, and so do you. Just relax for a few minutes." Rafal said. Sophie loudly inhaled and exhaled, completely avoiding eye contact.

"…you really think you failed that test?" Sophie asked him quietly.

"Oh yeah. Big time." Rafal admitted, swallowing the little pride he had left.

A long minute of silence passed between them, until Sophie broke it.

"You can go if you want to. I'm sorry you had to see that." Sophie apologized. _Sophie apologized._

Rafal sat there, completely floored for at least ten seconds.

"I mean, no worries. I have those too…are you sure you don't need anything?" Rafal asked, but this time, Sophie seemed to be considering his words.

"Tea would be nice, but I already had three cups of coffee today, and we don't have decaf teas here…" Sophie muttered. Rafal widened his eyes.

"Why did you have three cups of coffee? No doubt you can't stop moving." Rafal said, looking at Sophie's nails, clicking against the counter again.

"Because I have too much shit to do tonight. It's just that…" she groaned loudly, "Never mind, I don't even know why I would tell you this. You probably would laugh at me." Sophie rolled her eyes. Rafal glared at her.

"That feels more like something you would do, but go on." He said, ignoring the glare she returned.

"…it's kind of hard having so much pressure on myself. Like, my mom is always on me to have the best grades, especially to make up for my actions, but I haven't gotten a detention in like, a month, so I've been on better behavior…and, I don't know, I guess I feel like I'm just not giving enough." Sophie confessed, staring at her feet.

"You haven't vandalized or trashed anything in a while, actually…but anyways, I get what is like to have a parent constantly pushing you when they're not even there. I mean, half of the time is just me at my house, but my dad expects me to have everything together. I'm self-sufficient, but a little help wouldn't hurt sometimes…which I guess is what I'm trying to say." Rafal said, and Sophie finally looked at him, clearly embarrassed.

"Yeah…I guess, but at least all your friends are as academic as you; they can help you out. I love Kiko and Tristan but, they don't really help too much when it comes to…school stuff." Sophie argued. Rafal thought quietly for a minute.

"I guess I could help, if you needed it, that's it." He blurted out. Sophie raised her eyebrows.

"But, we kind of hate each other."

"Well, yeah, but I'm already your French tutor, is not like is that far-fetched." Rafal said. Sophie considered it for a second. He had no idea why he had said that, and he was starting to regret it more with each passing second of silence.

"It wouldn't hurt…" Sophie quietly said. "But only sometimes. And you're not allowed to say _this_ ever happened."

"What? That we had a civil conversation?" Rafal snorted. Sophie rolled his eyes.

"I guess that too. Gosh, you can be so dumb sometimes." Sophie criticized.

"And you so overbearing and uncooperative." Rafal snapped. Sophie's lips curled into a smirk, and looked right at him.

"But you don't hate me enough to let me drown." She teased.

"Yeah cause I'm a good person." Rafal retorted. "You have been a giant pain in my ass but I don't think you deserve to have a mental breakdown…is called basic decency."

Sophie's smirk vanished, and an expression of surprise replaced it.

"…that's actually really considerate…thank you." Sophie whispered. Rafal's eyes widened.

"Wow, you apologized _and_ thanked me in one day? Pinch me because this must be a dream." Rafal mockingly said. Sophie indeed reach for his arm but Rafal backed away before she could touch his arm. Sophie laughed but Rafal just sighed.

"Sophie?"

"Hmm?"

"You _suck."_

"You do too, can I interest you in walking you to the door?" Sophie asked, but Rafal raised his eyebrows.

"We're done?" He inquired. Sophie nodded.

"Yeah. I have more important stuff to do, like that Chemistry reading guide." Sophie pointed out. Rafal nodded and slowly picked up his stuff.

"You didn't need to walk me to the door, you know?" Rafal observed. Sophie shrugged.

"It's _basic decency_." Sophie smiled sweetly. Rafal sighed, but chuckled. Sophie raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Rafal said, starting to walk away. Sophie called after him, and he turned his head.

"I know you're going to mock me but…thanks." Sophie said, looking away from him. Rafal stopped in his tracks, but replied to her:

"You're welcome." And shockingly, he smiled at her. At Sophie Jones. He walked away, feeling a bit too good about himself, and definitely not noticing as Sophie stared at him, frozen at her doorstep.

Hort considered himself a good friend: he was always there when he was needed, he supported his friends, and he liked to positively surprise them once in a while.

Which is why he called Agatha.

Alright. He called her because he needed her opinion on his drawing, but he had a plan.

"Personally, I think it looks great, but I only draw stick figures." Agatha opined. The camera showed her with her hair on a ponytail, and wearing a maroon sweater as she sat at her desk.

"Thanks. I usually get input from Bea, but I wanted a second opinion." Hort lied. Agatha's eyes lit up at the mention of Beatrix.

"Yeah, you do spend a lot of time with her." Agatha slyly observed. Hort narrowed his eyes.

"What are you trying to say, Woods?" Agatha laughed airily at Hort's question.

"Just trying to get you to tell me about your real feelings, Bloodbrook." Agatha winked at him. Hort looked away. He wanted to bang his head against the wall.

 _Why_ did he bring up _her_ name? He should've lied and said Tedros's.

"Look, there's nothing more between us. We're just best friends and people—"

"Oh cut the bullshit already." Agatha cut him off. Hort blushed.

In the past years, he had gotten used to the countless rumors that circled around him and Beatrix: she had a crush on him, he liked her, he had broken up with Nicola because he was in love with Beatrix, and they were secretly dating. The list goes on and on, but he had always dismissed them because Beatrix was his best friend. He didn't want to complicate things between them.

Until this school year started.

"There isn't! The truth is that we are just friends and that's it." Hort said. Agatha rolled her eyes.

"But you clearly want something more…and by you I mean both of you." Agatha argued. Hort shook his head.

"…I can't do that. Beatrix…she's like my favorite person in this world, and while I may dream of kissing her, that's all that it will ever be. A silly dream." Hort established. Agatha raised her eyebrow.

"Do you really?" Agatha asked. Hort rolled his eyes but his cheeks turned pink.

"It was a figure of speech. Besides, who is to say she would even be into me? She would probably be weirded out by that idea." Hort argued. Agatha snorted.

"You're so daft when you're in denial…she's totally head over heels for you, why can't you see it?" Agatha asked.

"Because is probably not there. Besides, you know who's head over heels for you? Tedros, and I bet you don't even notice it." Hort blurted Out, immediately regretting the suddenness of his words. He widened his eyes, as Agatha's eyes did the same.

Her face was almost the color of his sweater. She cleared her throat.

"I had my suspicions but….that was really blunt… _really_ blunt." Agatha avoided Hort's gaze. He slapped his forehead.

"I shouldn't have said that, oh my God. Agatha, if you have an ounce of decency in you, which I know you do, you will act as if this never happened." Hort begged. Agatha looked up, downright insulted.

"Pretend you never said that? Hort, I've liked Tedros for _months._ But do you know how hard that is when you don't know if it's returned? This is wonderful! This is, like the best news ever!"

"Okay but did you seriously not know he's like, in love with you? Geez, you guys are in the same boat of obliviousness." Hort sighed. Agatha rolled her eyes.

"I'm not as oblivious as you. The thing is….is kinda hard to figure out if someone likes you when you talk to them and they just kind of…nod and awkwardly smile. Which is what Tedros usually did…but now I have the security I'm not crazy!" Agatha exclaimed. Hort laughed.

"I could've clarified that for you, but, what's the plan now? I mean, I accidentally gave you key information. What are you gonna do with it?" Hort asked. Agatha remained silent for a minute.

"I…don't know. I guess I never imagined I'd get this far. Is _he_ trying to pursue me?" Agatha asked.

"Believe it or not, yes. He just…he's slow, but he's getting there." Hort assured sheepishly. Agatha grinned.

"I guess I'll just see how things play out…I don't wanna scare him away. He's a bit like a butterfly: any sudden moves too close to him will scare him away." Agatha said. Hort snickered.

"That's the greatest thing you've said." Hort grinned.

"So, what are _you_ going to do with Beatrix? Are you just gonna stand there and do nothing?" Agatha taunted. Hort rolled his eyes.

"Yes! Agatha, I told you, she's not into me. Besides, our friendship is not worth risking over some dumb crush that I have." Hort sighed. "I'll get over it, you'll see."

Agatha looked him, with a mix of worry and pity in her expression.

"If you say so…but I do think she likes you. And Reena told me about your dumb bet. Seriously? I would ask her to prom if I was you…it gives you an excuse to be with her." Agatha suggested. Hort shrugged.

"I'll think about it when I get there. You worry about your own love life." Hort said, with a wave of his hand. Agatha shrugged.

"Whatever makes you happy my dude."

It didn't make him happy, but Hort knew he was doing the right thing. Keeping a friendship meant more to him than listening to his confused heartstrings.

* * *

 **Hi there! It{s been a really, really, really long time since I updated, but a certain someone left me some good feedback a few weeks ago, and that really motivated me to update. I'm so glad you guys still like and keep up with this story, even though I'm a shitty updater.**

 **But, I do feel this chapter will move along things and bring us more relationships so it took me a while to get it right, but I'm happy with it!**

 **Please do leave a review!**


	12. Surprise

Hort had spent the past two weeks thinking about Agatha's call. He didn't even know how to tell Tedros, "she likes you", without him freaking him out way too much, which sounds stupid, but Hort also knew he was being a bit cowardly. He could just tell him and finally make that happen.

But Hort was struggling with his own personal issue as well. Agatha's words about Beatrix were starting to get to him, even if he would never admit it. He knew he liked her, but he felt as if he had realized just _how much_ he did. With exams creeping closer, it was the worst time for him to be as emotionally tormented.

As all for of them say at the cafeteria, Hort quietly pondered about the one thing he could fix: telling Tedros that Agatha indeed liked him. She had been asking him for the last two weeks if he was going to tell Tedros. Hort affirmed it, but Agatha was still waiting on him to actually do it. He probably should do it when it was only the two of them, but he could trust Rafal and Beatrix to not tell anyone. Besides, they're good moral support,

"…So that's why I would like to be exempt from my algebra exam." Beatrix finished saying something, but Hort had zoned out temporarily.

"I get that. I don't want to take my AP Chemistry midterm either." Rafal said.

"Hey guys, not to be that person to completely change the subject, but I have some….news." Hort announced. All set of eyes turned to face him, as curiosity sparkled in their blue eyes.

"It's about Agatha. Sort of. So, um." Hort started, his voice lowered so that only the four of them would hear him.

"Oh my God, don't tell me you like her too; that's just going to complicate everything." Beatrix pleaded. Hort snorted.

"Of course not! The thing is, Tedros, Agatha likes you, so, if you don't take your chance, I don't know what to tell you." Hort said. Tedros blushed profusely at Hort's announcement, while Beatrix and Rafal simply looked surprise at the bluntness of the information.

"I'm sorry, what?" Tedros chuckled nervously. "Are you serious?"

Hort nodded vehemently.

"Yeah, I um, found out from herself. If she told me, then that's the truth and you definitely should go for it." Hort said.

"How long have you known?" Tedros asked him. Hort avoided his gaze.

"…two weeks…" Hort confessed sheepishly. Tedros's eyes grew the size of saucers.

"You're just telling me now!? Hort!" Tedros exclaimed.

"Seriously Hort, you know you have to relay this information quickly." Beatrix teased.

"Not to be rude, but you didn't need to know as badly…" Beatrix whacked Hort on the arm.

"I can't believe it; someone as cool as Agatha likes someone as _me._ Oh my God, this is like the best news ever." Tedros smiled, as her rubbed his temples.

"I can't believe it's finally happening. Hort really came in clutch for you." Rafal said.

"I did. Late, but I did! But now, there's a big question: what's your next move?" Hort asked Tedros, and the latter's smiled disappeared.

"Man…I actually don't know. I have to tutor her today from four to five thirty, and that's all I have." Tedros admitted

"Dang, that's a long session." Rafal observed, "I think someone wants to spend some quality time with you." Hort and him snickered.

"She told me is because of the physics midterm; I think that's more important than seeing me." Tedros rolled his eyes but his cheeks were tinted pink.

"Oh hey I know! Since Christmas is coming, you can get her something!" Rafal suggested. Hort and Beatrix agreed.

"Yeah! I could…something nice, but not _too_ nice…what does she like?" Tedros asked. Hort sighed.

"We can talk about it tonight. Just focus on tutoring." Hort said.

"Thanks! Dang, now I have to sit through class being this excited…but also really nervous."

"Yeah…just act normal when you see her…that's gonna be hard." Rafal teased. Tedros sighed in annoyance.

"When you like someone, we can talk." Tedros answered.

"We won't be talking for a _long_ time." Rafal chuckled cynically.

At the end of the day, Rafal was ready to go home early. He didn't need to go to any council meetings, or any other meeting. Even Sophie had agree to schedule their last tutoring session tomorrow. She had been way more cooperative in the past weeks, even if she still teased him a lot, he didn't dread those as much.

Besides, Anemone only said he needed to tutor her for this semester, so those were soon coming to an end. It'd be weird to not do it anymore, but he appreciated having more free time.

As he was putting stuff in his bag from his locker, he saw Hort approach him. Rafal thought it weird that Beatrix wasn't with him, but he dismissed that thought quickly.

"Hey Hort, what's up?" Rafal asked. Hort looked around and said:

"You know how Bea loves to talk about book characters? And how like 60% of her pictures are fanart of them?" Hort asked. Rafal nodded, wondering where he was going.

"Well, in the spirit of Christmas, I decided to do that. I know she loves Sarah J. Mass stuff, so I decided I'd do a nice little drawing for her, and I wanted to show you and get some criticism." Hort pulled out his phone and showed him.

"Oh that looks great! I know nothing about those books, but it looks great!" Rafal said. "Is that like her favorite character or something? I feel like she loves all of them." Hort grinned.

"Yeah, she says that, but I know she loves Aelin. Getting gifts is always problematic for me." Hort confessed sheepishly.

"Yeah…doing that must have taken a lot of time, huh?" Rafal asked.

"Oh yeah! And research. Google spoiled me a lot, not that I ever wanted to read those, but there were spoilers in every Wiki page I clicked on." Hort told.

"How come you had never done this before? Not just for Bea, but for anyone." Rafal asked, genuinely curious. Hort shrugged.

"I don't know. I really wanted to give her something memorable that she would appreciate." Hort admitted, smiling. Rafal's lips curled up deviously.

"Hort, is there something you need to tell me?" Rafal asked. Hort frowned, putting his phone away.

"No….why are you asking?" Rafal put a hand on his shoulder.

"You do realize you can trust me enough to tell me how you feel about anything…or _anyone_." Rafal said. Hort narrowed his eyes and looked at him suspiciously.

"What are you implying?" Hort demanded, with his eyes narrowed, scanning Rafal's face.

"That you like Bea." Rafal bluntly replied. Hort's eyes widened as he loudly shushed him.

"You can't say stuff like that in the hallways! People are like vultures: always circling for the hottest gossip." Hort explained.

"You didn't deny it…" Rafal pointed out quietly. Hort whacked him in the arm, but sighed.

"Look, I don't even want to think about it myself. I'm literally doing nothing but complicating my own life by doing this. Do I wanna like her like that? Not really, but a part of me really likes her and doesn't want to let go…I'm stupid. You're the first person to whom I actually told." Hort sighed. Rafal's face softened and patted him on the back.

"I don't even know what to tell you. You guys have been friends since before I met you, and I'm sure she loves you as much as you do, but I don't even know if she'd be willing to risk all of that. I don't know if _you_ would be willing to risk that much." Rafal said. Hort sighed again.

"I'm not. I don't think she is either. I think she just sees me as her best friend, which is probably the best. For all four of us." Hort confessed. Rafal frowned.

"I'm sorry, man. Especially since I asked her to homecoming this year." Rafal offered. Hort waved it off.

"It's alright. Besides, I didn't even know back then how I felt. I think I still don't know." Hort took out his phone again and checked the time.

"On the bright side, our Lover Boy should be with Agatha by now." Hort snickered, and Rafal couldn't help but laugh.

Agatha had shown up to the library by 3:50. She tried to convince herself that it was because she needed all the help she could get with her physics study guide, but she knew she also just wanted to see Tedros.

She felt silly thinking that, but the truth is the truth. Ever since Hort had spilled the beans, Agatha had been wondering if he ever was going to tell Tedros it was reciprocal. She got a text from Hort today saying:

 _I finally did it. He knows, figure out what you two are going to do and get together already!_

Agatha giggled when she read it. She hadn't told any of her friends yet, just because they would ask too many questions, so she decided to keep it to herself for a while. As she waited for Tedros to show up, she decided to fix her lipgloss while she waited.

The library had more people than it usually did on a Thursday, and Agatha guessed the impending midterms had brought them here. As she sat by herself, she took off her burgundy sweater, and the next thing she heard was the library chimes going off. She looked up and saw Tedros approaching her, carrying his textbook in his hand.

"Hey, am I late?" Tedros asked. Agatha shook her head.

"No, I'm just early." Agatha replied, grinning.

Hort had warned her that Tedros would probably be more awkward today in light of the news, but he seemed like his usual self. He mostly seemed focused on helping her, really, which Agatha didn't mind. After all, she had asked for more than an hour of help. They eventually took a break, because there is only so much studying at a time that Agatha could take.

"So, are you excited for Christmas?" Tedros asked her.

"Yeah! My friends and I are doing a gift exchange next Friday at Hester's house and I'm really looking forward to see who got something for me. Are you doing anything for Christmas?"

"Rafal usually invites us over to his house and we give each other gifts. He hasn't really told us when we are meeting, but he said he would do it again, so there's that." Tedros answered.

"That's fun. Do you leave town for Christmas? A lot of people do around here." Agatha observed, but Tedros shook his head.

"How about you?" He asked her, and she also shook her head.

"Winter break is just nap time for me." Agatha smiled, and Tedros chuckled. "Hey, not to kill the vibe but can we go to studying? I still need help with acceleration graphs."

"Yeah, yeah." Tedros said.

They went over almost everything on their study guide, and by 5:15, Agatha was ready to call it off. She thanked Tedros again, even if he said it was no big deal.

"Well, exams are in less than a week away and I am not ready." Agath confessed, as she exited the library.

"Not even for physics?" Tedros teased. Agatha rolled her eyes.

"Not emotionally. For my others I'm not physically ready either, so this is an improvement." Tedros laughed at that.

Agatha was readying herself to say goodbye, but before she could speak, Tedros spoke.

"Hey Agatha, since you're staying in town over break, and I am too, um, I was wondering if you would like to check out that Christmas lights festival downtown? I know it sounds lame, but it's really pretty, and they also have some free samples in some corners so it's kinda cool, but I totally understand if you can't go bec—" Agatha approached him, put her hands on his shoulders and replied:

"Yes, I would like to go. I love the festival, so I don't think is lame." Agatha smiled at him, as he nervously grinned at her. Feeling like testing the waters, Agatha decided to ask:

"Who else would go?" Tedros blushed profusely at her question before replying quietly:

"Um, I was thinking just the two of us, if that's okay with you." Tedros smiled sheepishly, and Agatha returned the gesture.

"That's perfectly okay with me. When is it?" Agatha asked.

"Next Saturday, at 7."

"Well then I'll see you Saturday then. I'll see you tomorrow." Agatha said, as she started walking away. She smiled all the way to her car, and even as she drove.

Tedros had asked her out, and not even studying for midterms could dampen her spirits.

* * *

You know the drill...I disappear, I come back and apologize, and we're happy...I feel like I just gave the people nwhat they wanted, so please take that as an apology haha. I hope you guys had a good New Year!


	13. Date Night

When Tedros had told his friends he had asked Agatha out, they all lost their mind, in the best way possible of course. Hort had even joked about throwing a party to celebrate. Tedros rolled his eyes at that but was thankful they were so supportive.

However, he was not expecting them to show up for a pep-talk at his house.

"And remember, even though it's always great to be yourself, wait for a while before you tell her how much you love science and all that stuff. At least be casual if you're going to mention it." Hort advised. Tedros sighed.

"Hort, I'm not an idiot. Besides, my own interests will be the last thing on my mind." Tedros assured.

" I don't know if that's a good thing or not." Rafal chuckled.

The four of them stood around in Tedros's light blue bedroom, not wanting to disturb Arthur as he watched TV downstairs.

"I honestly commend you for wanting to go out today; it's _freezing._ " Beatrix cried, as she hugged herself, while clad in a navy blue coat, black jeans, a purple scarf and black combat boots. Tedros grinned.

"Bea is not even that cold." Hort teased, even if he also seemed rather layered up. Beatrix simply glared at him.

"Hey, it could snow. It would make it feel like all of those cheesy Christmas movies." Rafal joked. Tedros chuckled in response.

"Are you guys going to do something? Like together?" Tedros asked them. The three of them nodded.

"Yeah, we all decided to get together before Bea left for Christmas. We also felt guilty about doing it today, which is why we crashed here." Rafal explained. Tedros nodded in understanding.

"Thanks I guess? It's alright anyways, Bea had told me so we hung out after school on Wednesday. Look, I hate to kick you out but I should get going." Tedros said, putting on a coat and readying himself to leave. The four of them walked out of the room and headed downstairs.

"Dad I'm leaving! I'll be back by like 9, tops." Tedros announced as he opened the door.

"Be safe! Don't drive too recklessly, and have fun on your date." Arthur told him, then turned to the three other kids, "Nice seeing you, guys."

The four teenagers walked out into December's winter and bid their goodbyes and then went their separate ways.

Tedros had told Agatha he'd pick her up at her place. He had gotten there a few minutes earlier than what he had said, and he was starting to regret it. He had just realized something.

He had never been on a date. He was a little bit…. _panicked_. Tedros tried to not think about how nervous he was, and instead decided to take a look at his watch. Not because he was impatient, but as an antsy person.

As he waited, he started to freak out.

 _What if this is a set-up? What if she just did it to toy with me and then laugh at me?_

Tedros shook his head and tried to push away the invasive thoughts, until someone tapped the door. He flinched and opened it.

"Oh hey!" Tedros said as he grinned.

"Hey, sorry it took me a bit to get here. I couldn't find my coat." She said sheepishly.

"Oh no worries."

"Did you wait long?" Agatha asked, and he shook his head.

It was a drive filled with casual conversation, with some occasional silence. When they got there, it was already crowded.

"You want to get going?" Tedros asked, pointing towards the festival with his head.

"Well yeah." Agatha grinned, and they made their way through the brightly lit streets. Entire sidewalks were surrounded by yellow dazzling lights that looked like draping vines.

The two made for some casual conversation, namely about their weekend and their upcoming break, as the two walked down streets ornately decorated and crowded with people.

"So do you usually come to these? Like, Christmas lights stuff." Tedros asked. Agatha shrugged.

"Some years. Usually my mom and I do it if we're kind of bored at home. My friends are not really that into them. Except Anadil, but I know she partly does it for the free cookies they give out." Agatha told, and Tedros chuckled.

"Yeah, last year we came, and long story short, we lost Hort. We didn't have really good signal either, so we couldn't find him…he had stayed behind talking to a lady giving out chocolate. It was so random." Tedros told and Agatha laughed.

"Oh gotta love him…I don't know about you, but I heard they were going to have an ice skating rink tonight, it'd be nice if they did." Agatha pointed out.

"I hadn't, actually. I know they did it a few years back." Tedros replied. "Have you ever ice skated?" Agatha nodded and smiled.

"Yeah! I love it. When I was younger, I actually wanted to practice it, but it was kind of expensive so I just did gymnastics for a few years, and then ballet." Agatha told. Tedros raised his eyebrows.

"You did gymnastics and ballet? Dang, that's impressive. Why did you stop?" He asked her.

"My back was kind of hating me for it, so I quit ballet two years ago. It kinda sucked because it was really fun, but at least I have cheerleading!" Agatha said.

"Not that I know anything about it but you seem pretty good at it." Tedros offered, and Agatha's smiled widened as the tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

They kept walking down the swirling streets, seeing a range of simple Christmas lights, to ornate settings displaying many arrangements of shapes and colors, and seeing as there were many stands offering free samples of sweets, Agatha and Tedros indulged themselves as much as they could.

"So, now that I've told you about me, is only fair you do the same." Agatha hinted, as she ate a frosted cookie shaped like a Christmas tree.

"I mean, what do you wanna know?" Tedros asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Anything about you really. It doesn't have to be deep, but I'd like to know something about you other than the surface stuff." Agatha shrugged.

"Well, you can probably tell I'm not super athletic. The last time I even touched a ball, or that I remember, is eight grade PE class when we played handball." Tedros told, and Agatha giggled.

"Hey, I'm not one to assume things about people. Also, you played handball in your middle school? We barely even played soccer, let alone handball." Agatha told. Tedros shrugged and grinned.

"It's probably because we had a Hungarian coach. Apparently handball was a big deal over there. Anyways, you can guess it wasn't fun being the kid with glasses when the ball is flying at your face." Tedros said.

"Were you the kid that had an A in every class except for P.E?" Agatha teased. Tedros looked away.

"….our coach was strict, okay?" Tedros said, and Agatha rolled her eyes teasingly.

"What else?" She asked, looking at him with curiosity in her eyes. It made Tedros's face burn as the color of her scarf.

"I also read comics in my spare time….which is not as often as I would like." Tedros confessed sheepishly. Agatha quirked her eyebrows

"What kind of comics?"

"Marvel and DC. Mostly DC. Hort and I geek over them, and we have the classic argument of which one is better. But we mostly geek about them. I'm sure that's a huge surprise for you." Tedros chuckled.

"I mean, Hort did mention it a couple times, but I didn't know too much. I don't know how you do it, where do you even begin?" Agatha asked. Tedros cracked a smile.

"Wherever the bookstore tells you. It's very messy at first, but you get the hang of it later." Tedros explained. "They're fun for me. Space is my biggest issue though. Who knew such little volumes would take so much space?"

Tedros realized that he had gotten a little bit too excited about comics, and he hoped Agatha wouldn't mind him being a nerd. Or that she wasn't too weirded out.

"What's your favorite DC superhero? I barely know Marvel, and they have a new movie like every three months. I hope you don't mind me being an uncultured swine about DC." Agatha said, and Tedros laughed.

"No worries. I'd say probably Batman. I just really like the universe in general, because it has not only a good main character but I really The villains and it's honestly really entertaining. And I used to think Bruce Wayne was like the coolest guy ever when I was a little kid, so I guess that never went away." Tedros confessed.,

"That's actually really cute…I'm not huge on superhero stuff to be honest, which is like sacrilege for some people because again, Marvel, but people can do whatever they want. I've always been a fan of teen dramas." Agatha admitted.

"Really? Like what?" Tedros asked.

"I was so obsessed with Pretty Little Liars, it wasn't even funny. I also really like a lot of Freeform originals, even if some are kind of trashy." Agatha said sheepishly.

"Question: do you like reality TV?" Tedros asked. Agatha looked away.

"….I have a problem with reality TV. The trashier it gets, the better. It's actually really bad. You can judge me, is fine. I blame Hester for some of them though."

"I think I'll go ahead and take that chance." Tedros yelped as Agatha whacked him playfully.

"I didn't Invite you to do it so _openly."_ Agatha admonished, a teasing glint in her eyes.

"Well I'm sorry then." Tedros was about to open his mouth again, but he saw Agatha widen her eyes.

"Look! They _do_ have an ice skating rink! We should totally go!" Agatha exclaimed excitedly, as she grabbed Tedros hand and led him.

Tedros felt sick. He felt his skin pale. Ice Skate? He could barely walk without tripping, let alone skate. In any surface.

"Um Agatha I don't know if we should." He croaked. Agatha stopped in her tracks and stared at him, looking confused.

"Why?"

"I…I've never skated and, I don't think it would be a good idea." Tedros confessed, feeling his cheek burn. He was doing so well until now….

Agatha simply laughed.

"Don't be silly! I'll hold your hand and won't let you fall. Don't you trust me?"

"I mean yeah, as in yes I trust you but I don't know Agatha. I don't think is a good idea. I'll just embarrass you in front of these people." Tedros said. Agatha rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"No you won't. Besides, no one has any idea what they're doing when they first skate. When I did it, I fell on my face. At least you have me to guide you. Come on!" Agatha pleaded, with a hopeful glint in her eyes.

Tedros looked around, hesitantly. He sighed.

"Alright."

Tedros was right. This had been the worst idea ever.

Getting on the rink was problematic enough, staying standing was a whole another thing. Agatha, however, has stayed true to her promise of holding his hand and guiding him along the ice. Sort of.

He lost count of how many times he had slipped or fell. He admired Agatha for staying with him for this long.

"Hey, you're not doing so bad now." Agatha observed, as she glided next to him.

"I mean, I _am_ staying on my feet." Tedros pointed out, and Agatha giggled.

"It is progress. Do you still want me to hold your hand or is it okay if I let you go?" Agatha asked. Tedros blushed.

"….can I still hold on to you? I don't feel ready to let go yet, and I'm kind of enjoying not falling down." Tedros confessed, avoiding Agatha's gaze.

"Yeah….sounds like someone doesn't want to let go for other reasons." Agatha winked at him, and Tedros's face almost burnt off in that instant.

"No is not like that I swear, I mean not that I mind but is definitely cause I like having the security of someone holding on to me and not letting me fall but is not like I mind I mean—" Tedros rambled but he stopped talking when Agatha laughed.

"I'm just teasing you, Tedros." Agatha smiled at him, and he returned the gesture.

"Sorry you haven't gotten to, actually skate as you'd probably like." Tedros blurted. She raised her eyebrow and looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Earlier you made it sound like you can skate really well and I don't know, do cool stuff I guess."

"Oh! I mean, I can spin but that's about it. Besides, it is nice skating with someone." Agatha confessed, a coy little smile tugging at her lips.

"…can I see you spin?" Tedros asked dumbly.

"I thought you wanted me to hold your hand." Agatha frowned.

"I can like, lean against the wall while you do that, I mean, if you want to. I'll be fine but I totally get it if you don't want to." Tedros offered.

"No, I actually kinda wanna do it now. Just stay here. I can do it pretty fast." Agatha said and she skated around half of the rink before she span. She looked so pretty and graceful while she span. Tedros sighed stupidly as he saw her.

As she stopped, she looked over at him and smiled. She was at his side in a few seconds.

"That was fun! I missed skating so much, even though I had never realized it." Agatha said, her breath a little shaky.

"It looked like it. You looked so graceful doing that. I would look like an awkward giraffe if I even tried." Tedros said, and Agatha laughed.

They skated for a few minutes more, and then they eventually left the rink and returned their skates, as they made their way back to Tedros's car. He felt giddy at the thought of tonight actually being way better than he had ever envisioned.

While they drove back home, Agatha broke the silence.

"You know, I think this is the most fun I've had on a date in…a very long time."

"Really?" Tedros asked in disbelief. Agatha nodded. He felt giddiness rise in his chest.

"Yeah! And I don't say it just cause we ice skated, but because you're really cool, Tedros." Agatha said in a hushed tone.

"Oh, wow, thank you. I had a lot of fun too. You're pretty cool yourself, but I'm sure you know that already." Tedros complimented and Agatha chuckled.

"I like being reminded."

"Hey Agatha, Can I tell you something?" Tedros inquired. Agatha frowned but agreed. "I…I had never been on a date, and I was freaking out that I was going to mess up or, say something stupid, so you saying that…you have no idea how relieving that is." He chuckled, but he felt Agatha stare at him in disbelief.

"No way! You had never been on a date? _How_? Are other girls _blind_?" Agatha demanded. Tedros blushed but, instead of being silent, he asked:

"What do you mean? I'm an average Joe." Agatha scoffed, and that only piqued more his curiosity.

"Tedros, you're like super sweet, and you're funny and not afraid of being yourself. How can someone not like you and want to go out with you?" Agatha asked incredulously. Tedros chuckled. He still blushed, but he liked the compliments. Especially from Agatha.

"Hey, people like what they like. Besides, I'm glad you were my first date." Tedros confessed. Agatha smiled but looked away. Tedros's heart pounded as he drove. He didn't believe this was actually happening. He couldn't believe it sounded like Agatha… _liked_ him.

When he pulled at her driveway, he ignored the disappointment he felt on his chest.

"Again, I had a great time…I hope is not the last time we do this." Agatha coyly said. Tedros gazed over at her, looking as shy as he had ever seen her.

God, if he was braver he would lean in and finally kiss her. But he didn't.

"Yeah….definitely." Tedros assured, but before Agatha got down, he planted a peck on his cheek. Her gaze lingered on his, but he simply returned the gesture and kissed her cheek.

"Have a good break." Tedros managed to say.

"Yeah…you too." Agatha said, and headed back home.

Tedros might as well just have exploded right there and then. He didn't even know how he made it back home.


	14. Announcement

Hello everyone,

I started writing this story in the summer of 2017, and while I still love the characters and their arcs I created for them, I don't feel connected to this story anymore. I look back on it, and I don't feel proud of what I wrote. I feel like I wasted everyone's time writing this. It's been nearly two years, and I feel I've changed as a writer, and this story doesn't achieve anything. I feel like I took a concept I loved and ruined it in its execution. So, I am not continuing this version of this story on here. I'm genuinely sorry if you liked this story , but I can't continue writing that's so far from redemption.

 _ **However**_ ,

I began rewriting this story on AO3, and I feel much more confident about it. If you really liked this one, I recommend you read what I have rewritten. It is very different in its organization, but it's still a reversed au, so the characters stand as they were here. I genuinely feel is much better so if you want to check it out, here it is.

/works/18551509/chapters/43971562

Thank you for reading this!


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